Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces
by Shadow Chaser
Summary: What survived was the roaring flame of hatred. What died was the inner peace of the heart. The Ultimate Coordinator in the enemy's hand. Athrun and the others try to rescue him at what price? Alternate Universe, What If?
1. Betrayed

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Timeframe:**

In the events of Phase Nineteen, Kira appeared at the last moment to kill Sven Anderson along with Athrun who killed Griever, Kira's clone-brother. However, during the clean-up process, it is where things take a nasty twist.

**Story:**

**_Previously on Gundam SEED: Entropy Rising…_**

_Kira stayed in the shadows, propped up against the door frame. His leg felt like it was on fire and the pain that radiated from his wound sent spasms each time he put weight on it. He was glad that Mendel was near-zero-g, but any movement from his leg still gave off fiery pains of protest. He held his gun steady at Sven Anderson, knowing that Griever was still in the room, but __Anderson__ was the real target for now._

_"Kira, so glad you can join us!" Anderson's booming voice made him narrow his eyes, "I trust that you're feeling well?"_

_He didn't answer as he knew that __Anderson__ was baiting him, whether to give away his position to Griever, or for something else, he didn't care. All he cared about was getting rid of __Anderson__ and getting rid of Griever. The pain in his head had become very acute and it was like stabbing millions of knives into his head all at once and repeating the process over and over again._

_"Oh wait…you can't be feeling well, it's the pain isn't it? It's clawing at you…I know because it is the fate of two almost clones, meeting one another. They can't exist at the same time…that was why that 'accidental' death of Anton Ariga LaFlaga was no accident. Surely you must have heard it from Rau, didn't you?"_

_Kira didn't answer, but he was listening carefully._

_"Ah, I sense your hesitation," __Anderson__ said in an oily voice, "Rau never told you did he? I'm sure he told you of your circumstantial birth…after all, he could have never kept such a secret to himself. No…Rau knew for a fact that you were the only successful test trial only because the brothers that came after you would have experienced an acute pain that eventually could kill both you and your siblings._

_"When he was first 'born' I guess you can say, he began to experience pangs of pain and he realized that it was because he was a clone of Ariga. He realized that only one of them could exist and thereby made sure his predecessor was eliminated. However, sadly he wasn't able to contain the gene that made him have those deadly headaches and eventually succumbed to his own madness. However, I have perfected that gene so that when you die, my dear Nikolai would not suffer the same fate as Rau Le Creuset. After all, how could something so perfect be the one to die?_

_"But what to do about Princess Cagalli?__ She too is sibling… She too could suffer the same fate. The objective then is to eliminate the one that has caused all of this too. She was the one, if that bitch Katherine had not given birth to her, wouldn't have gotten into this whole mess!_

_"Weapons…weapons are what we need. Not some stupid birthing process in comparison. There are no weapons that exist right now. The improvement of clones is what needs to be done!"_

_Kira stared as he realized that Anderson had started to babble, and began to pace around. The man was mad…making speeches one minute, the next pacing like a mad scientist with plans for world domination. He narrowed his eyes… "You forgot one thing, __Anderson_

_"What?!" the man snapped, angry at being interrupted in his musings. Kira noticed that his father and Kingfisher were edging out, ready to shoot both Griever and Anderson while his mother and Ledonil were edging towards cover behind a group of control panels._

_"Dr. Ulen Hibiki may have created me, but I'll always be human. I've come to accept that," he gave a quick look towards his mother and father before staring back at __Anderson__ and took a step forward from the shadows. His eyes crystallized into seed-mode and he raised his gun up, "my sister is not the cause of all this, but she helped create a weapon. Me."_

_"….Your…eyes…" this time __Anderson__ looked completely shocked and Kira fired._

* * *

_Kanoko dove behind a control panel as Kira fired his handgun, but she heard the other barrage of fire coming from her husband and Kingfisher. She didn't care as she covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to see anymore blood…no more violence…_

_Soon the firing stopped and she unwrapped her arms and looked up. Her son hadn't been the only one firing… She still couldn't believe the words Kira had said…they were haunting and chilled her to the bones. It was as if all of the pressures he had faced turned into something else and he had wielded it with dangerous fury. She wondered what had changed in Kira to make him like this…_

_"Kira?" she whispered his name as he saw him standing still as a statue, staring at the fallen form of __Anderson__. His gun was lowered, but his eyes were still cold, still in that crystallized state that scared her so much…what had Dr. Hibiki create? No…he didn't create anything, Kira wasn't created; he was her son…_

_"I…I…" he stared at the gun in his hand and Kanoko watched as his eyes returned to their normal soulful state…but tears had started to bunch in the corners and she gasped as he suddenly collapsed to the ground._

_She started to rush over, but someone she had never expected to see beat her to it. Athrun was instantly by Kira's side, prying the gun from his hand and kneeling next to him, a hand on his shoulder to comfort him._

_"It's all right, Kira…its over. You don't have to do this anymore," she heard his whisper as Kira started to cry._

_It was then that she noticed that Griever was no longer standing, but had collapsed in a heap where he was…unmoving. She wondered if he was dead, but ignored it as she didn't want to see the face that looked almost exactly like Kira's…dead…_

_She got up slowly and walked over to where Athrun and Kira were before kneeling down next to her son. Catching Athrun's eye he nodded then backed off slightly as she wrapped her arms around Kira and let him cry onto her shoulder. "There, there…" she soothed him gently, rubbing circles in his back as tears poured from his eyes._

_She looked up and saw her husband walking over to help a young girl up. She looked lost and confused, but a broken gold charm bracelet was in her hand and blood was seeping down her arm where someone had shot her. He caught her gaze and nodded before she turned to see Ledonil checking to make sure Sven Anderson was truly dead while Kingfisher was checking to make sure Nikolai Mercus was dead…_

_Was it over? Kanoko hoped so as she held her son in her arms._

* * *

_Phase One – Betrayed_

Athrun heaved a quiet sigh of relief as he kicked around some rubble that had fallen. He dared not disturb the quiet moment between Kira and his mother, knowing that his best friend was suffering from so much in these past weeks. He saw Kingfisher, also known as Quinn Misali, checking over Griever's dead body. It was creepy in an odd sort of way, seeing Kira's exact face except marred by a scar, lying on the ground, shot through with his own gun.

He shivered slightly as he hoped not to repeat that action again. It was too disconcerting to shoot someone who looked a lot like Kira.

Kingfisher had finished his examination and stood up, a grim look on his face. Tilting his head, Athrun watched as the man walked over to Kanoko and Kira before crouching down beside them. There was something about the man that Athrun didn't trust…something he couldn't really pinpoint.

He decided to ignore it for now and went over to help Kira's father, Keiji who was finishing making makeshift patches for DaCosta's wounds.

"You all right?" he asked the red-haired man who had been Andrew Bartfield's second-in-command when he was the Desert Tiger and had faithfully followed his commander when they defected to the Clyne Faction. He was the one who had helped him escape PLANT in the Eternal, after his father had gone mad.

"Yeah," DaCosta winced as Keiji put on the final dressing, "being shot up isn't fun, is it?"

"No it isn't," Keiji's voice rumbled with a hint of laughter in it. "That'll teach you young ones not to get shot in the near future."

"Yes sir," DaCosta smiled a bit painfully before he attempted to sit up. Athrun reached out and helped the young man, only a few years older than he was, and both he and Keiji rescue-carried the man who had been code-named Desert during the infiltration mission.

As they lifted him up, a sudden scream split the air and Athrun's eyes shot up to where Kira was; what he saw shocked him and he froze in place, knowing that anything he did was going to be bad.

"Quinn?" Keiji whispered next to him, anguish in his voice as they stared at the Kingfisher who was had apparently knocked down Kanoko and had taken Kira hostage. For Athrun, it wasn't the fact that Kingfisher had betrayed them all and had pointed a gun at all of them while holding onto Kira, it was that Kira had such a blank look in his eyes, like he wasn't even noticing that he was being held hostage.

It was such a dramatic change from just a few minutes ago when Athrun saw that his best friend was being comforted for what he had to do. What had happened in that span of time? What made Kira so…dead to the world when he was so full of life just minutes ago?

"What the hell?!" Kisaka had drawn his gun out and was pointing it straight at Kingfisher, unwavering.

"I wouldn't if I were you Ledonil Kisaka," Quinn's tone had gone frosty and was icy cold. "Shoot me and Kira dies," he continued and Athrun frowned as Quinn turned his gaze to him. "And don't think about going into Seed-mode Athrun Zala. I know you have the ability to and do anything rash your friend gets it."

"Quinn-"

"Shut up Dr. Kamiya," Quinn addressed Kanoko who was trying to pick herself up painfully from the ground.

"Explain yourself, Quinn," it was Keiji's voice that brought any sign of life or any hint that this was truly the Kingfisher that they had known back into the man who was holding Kira hostage.

"Orders are orders Akuma," Quinn's voice was sad, but Athrun narrowed his eyes trying to figure out a way to get Kira away from the Kingfisher without getting either of them shot.

"What the hell does that mean? Are you working for Sven Anderson?! Did you betray us just to do this?!"

"Akuma, how the hell did you come up with the idea that I'm working for Anderson? He's dead after all, so if he was, there is no reason to take Kira hostage, am I correct?" he shook Kira's limp form in his hands and Athrun wondered even if his best friend was somewhere within that blank gaze. Had Kingfisher said something to Kira to make him look like that? Or was it that Kira had been overwhelmed so much by all that had happened in the past few weeks that he simply overloaded and shut down to all outside sources?

"Then why?" Kira's father's voice cracked from the shock of betrayal and Athrun had a feeling that the friendship between Keiji Yamato and Quinn Misali was probably similar to his and Kira's…

"My orders were the same as yours, Keiji," Anderson looked forlorn, but that was instantly replaced with a mask of impassivity. "Bring in the experiment Codenamed Kira at all costs."

"But…that was years ago. Those orders don't stand anymore! Patrick Zala is dead!" Keiji's exclamation made Athrun flinch at the mention of his father's name. He still couldn't believe that his father had done such atrocious acts and kept them all secret…and he still couldn't believe the nice man of his childhood was the same one that had ordered Genesis built and fired upon the military forces of the Naturals.

"They still stand Keiji, whether you're in a different military or not. You should know that assassins like us never retire. We're always roped back into doing our jobs. As you should have done yours, I'm doing mine now…" Kingfisher said as he slowly moved towards the door.

"Yeah, but Zala is-"

It suddenly hit Athrun as Keiji froze mid-sentence to what he was saying. It couldn't be…his father…alive…but…he had seen him shot by one of his own men. He had held his body as his father tried to make his last wishes known; to have his son fire Genesis on the Earth… He had mourned his father and gave him the only burial that was fit for him…

It was two years since that and now Kingfisher was implying that Patrick Zala was still alive?! But that was just impossible. There was no way…no possible way…

"H-How…" he asked into the quiet, his mind still numb with disbelief.

"Cloning, Athrun," Kingfisher seemed saddened at the prospect, but if Athrun saw any hint of it, it was immediately replaced by a mask of impassivity. "Patrick Zala is very much alive and if any of you get in my way, I will shoot you…"

"Kingfisher…why do this? You…knew that those orders were insane…you know at least some of my son's history…" Keiji pleaded with Quinn who frowned.

"It's just a job," was his reply before he started to move out of the room.

_It's just a job…just…a…_something inside of Athrun suddenly snapped and his eyes flashed with anger. A part of him that was still clinging onto the crumbling form of sanity told him that what he was doing was utterly foolish, but he had enough. He had seen too many of his friends fall, too many of his family suffer and die…enough was enough.

There was no way Kingfisher would ever accomplish what he was going to do. He was going to stop the madman. He was going to save Kira. He charged at Kingfisher, his mind focused on the goal of separating Kira from the man's grip. He didn't care about anything except to save Kira… Kira was what was important. Kira was his brother, his best friend; an innocent in this war.

He vaguely heard the shout of his name, nor the sudden discharge of a gun being fired, but what he did feel was a sudden radiating pain that pierced him and spread from his chest. It was as if everything was slowing down… He saw his world tip head-over-heels around him as he fell back from the gunshot wound to his chest. It was then that everyone began to get foggy around the edges.

_I've been shot…_he mused mostly to himself, as the pain spread all around him. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes, and the face of Keiji appeared overhead but Athrun didn't really hear him as he realized that he had failed in trying to get Kira away from Kingfisher…

_Kira…come back to us_, was his last thought as blackness overtook him and he passed out.

* * *

Quinn Misali, the Kingfisher, immediately took advantage of the confusion when he shot Athrun. He knew that he had seriously wounded the young man, but also knew that his shot was surgical and that the boy would survive – albeit in much pain for the moment – but survive nonetheless. However, he hadn't counted on his hostage Kira Yamato to suddenly snap to life after seeing Athrun shot.

Now as he quickly made his way to the hanger bay where Haruka Satou had left her shuttle, all part of the grand plan concocted by Patrick Zala, Kira was just a light unconscious burden. He had to stop the young man from flailing and escaping his clutches by putting pressure on his leg wound which had made him cry out in pain and pass out.

A part of him felt guilty for betraying everyone like that, but he knew that he had a job to do. He was a soldier after all and soldiers never disobeyed orders, only if they were unethical. He didn't what plans Patrick had for the young man, but he didn't want to think about it. A soldier's job was to follow orders and never to question what the morality of those orders were. That was what made OMNI so different from the loose militia of ZAFT.

That was also why OMNI prevailed for a majority of the time in the battles. They were soldiers and they knew what to do whereas ZAFT was so loose that it almost seemed disorganized. At least Patrick had the right idea to turn ZAFT into an effective fighting force by virtually telling them that OMNI was going to destroy them if they didn't get their act together. It made for a more worthy opponent in Quinn's opinion.

"Sir, where are you going? I heard gun shots," Wolf's sudden voice talking on his comm. made him stumble a bit, but he regained his footing and tapped the comm. He had forgotten that Yu-Ling Chan was still in her sniper position.

"I'm headed towards the shuttle to alert the fleet that everything's over. Go help Akuma and the others. There are wounded in the main control room," he said in a steady voice.

"Yes sir," Wolf replied before a double click of her comm. told him that she had gone to follow his orders.

A soldier's ability to blindly follow orders was also a weakness within OMNI's ranks – he knew that when he was in the Black Ops with Keiji and taking extra classes with Murrue. That was one weakness he knew that OMNI would have to rectify soon or else they would fall into disarray.

He continued along, finally reaching the shuttle and keyed open the door. Stepping in, he immediately placed Kira on the emergency medical bed, quickly hooking up a couple of IVs and shifting him to a more comfortable position and sedating him before heading towards the cockpit.

He activated the controls and engine and let them do their warm up procedures all the while, a small knot of apprehension forming in his stomach. He knew that communication to the other ships of the LF fleet was all but impossible as Sven Anderson had encrypted everything, but even if Dr. Kanoko Kamiya, or Yamato as she was married to Keiji, was able to decrypt Anderson's passwords, he doubted that she would do it right now. She was too distraught, he knew that, from seeing the loss of her son, the betrayal…it was Quinn's forte – the human psyche and psychology.

He didn't try to understand people; he just knew how people usually reacted. It was his gift as a soldier and sometimes a curse he reflected as he cruised out of the hanger bay and set a navigation course to the PLANTs. Firing up the thrusters, he sped towards the victorious LF fleet, a grim smile on his face. He knew that Murrue Ramius was one of the best commanders in the OMNI fleet – it was a pity that those higher her never realized her full potential and demeaned her so much to force her to break away from OMNI. They had lost such a great commander…but one could always be persuaded…

As he neared the fleet, he wondered what was taking Keiji so long to establish a connection to the fleet to warn them of what had transpired in Mendel. He knew that his former best friend would let the soldier inside of him dictate his actions in an effort to save his son…

Suddenly a beep of an incoming call made him turn on the comm. and he saw Murrue's angry face along with Keiji's, the screen splitting in two to show both faces.

"Quinn what the hell is going on?!" Murrue asked her voice calm and controlled, but he could hear the undercurrent of anger running through it.

"Nothing that concerns you, Captain Ramius," Quinn replied, keeping a steady grip on the controls towards PLANT, "if you want Kira Yamato to live, then you will let me through."

A proximity warning beeped and he saw that the Buster, Duel, and Strike Rouge were pointing their weapons on him. The _Eternal_, _Babylon_, _Archangel_, and his old command the _Kusanagi_ were also pointing their guns at him though he could tell that his second-in-command was very reluctant to point its guns at the shuttle.

"Surrender, Captain Misali. Don't make us destroy you," Ramius' voice wavered and Quinn smiled sadly before shaking his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Captain. See, even if you were to shoot me, you would have the stained conscience that you killed one of your former good friends, and Kira, to whom I know you and the rest of the crew doted on during the war," he said in a simple voice, "the others wouldn't shoot namely because Miss Clyne is in charge of the _Babylon_ and I think she wouldn't like to see her lover die, _Kusanagi_ is my old command and majority of my soldiers are loyal enough not to shoot me, the _Eternal_ is commanded by Captain Bartfield who has respected Kira as an opponent. The pilots of the Duel and Buster know that Kira is a worthy opponent and they know that he is Athrun's best friend, the Strike Rouge…sadly Princess Cagalli, you shouldn't have joined this battle just for your twin brother…"

"How do you…" Keiji looked shocked.

"Know all of this information? Keiji, Akuma, you are no assassin until you find out at least some information to blackmail others and complete your job. That is why you failed at your mission and I will succeed in mine," Quinn turned slightly to face Murrue whose face had drained of all color. He knew that he had hit all of the marks that were dear to the woman.

"You will let me pass," he said before he terminated the link and gunned the throttle, shooting forward. As he passed by the LF fleet, he saluted them one last time, a former LF who was now ZAFT. He knew the next time he met them, they would be enemies…

And they did not stop him.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I do not own _Gundam SEED_ or any of its characters. This was created with the intent and purpose of fan pleasure. No _Gundam SEED: Destiny_ characters will be featured as the whole thing has not been finished on Japanese TV as of this chapter publishing (only up to Ep. 4), and therefore I don't know the characters that well from _SEED: Destiny_. This is an **AU** to Entropy Rising and not a sequel. The sequel is called Destiny Falling. Hope you guys like it! Thank you to those who reviewed both ER and this new fic! Since it's not a summer project, updates will be slow because I have other fics I work on during the year.


	2. Dreams

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Timeframe:**

In the events of Phase Nineteen, Kira appeared at the last moment to kill Sven Anderson along with Athrun who killed Griever, Kira's clone-brother. However, during the clean-up process, it is where things take a nasty twist.

**Story:**

**_Previously on Gundam SEED: Entropy Rising…_**

**_"Quinn?" Keiji whispered next to him, anguish in his voice as they stared at the Kingfisher who was had apparently knocked down Kanoko and had taken Kira hostage. For Athrun, it wasn't the fact that Kingfisher had betrayed them all and had pointed a gun at all of them while holding onto Kira, it was that Kira had such a blank look in his eyes, like he wasn't even noticing that he was being held hostage._**

**_Something inside of Athrun suddenly snapped and his eyes flashed with anger. A part of him that was still clinging onto the crumbling form of sanity told him that what he was doing was utterly foolish, but he had enough. He had seen too many of his friends fall, too many of his family suffer and die…enough was enough._**

**_There was no way Kingfisher would ever accomplish what he was going to do. He was going to stop the madman. He was going to save Kira. He charged at Kingfisher, his mind focused on the goal of separating Kira from the man's grip. He didn't care about anything except to save Kira…_**

**_He vaguely heard the shout of his name, nor the sudden discharge of a gun being fired, but what he did feel was a sudden radiating pain that pierced him and spread from his chest. It was as if everything was slowing down… He saw his world tip head-over-heels around him as he fell back from the gunshot wound to his chest. It was then that everyone began to get foggy around the edges._**

**_"You will let me pass," he said before he terminated the link and gunned the throttle, shooting forward. As he passed by the LF fleet, he saluted them one last time, a former LF who was now ZAFT. He knew the next time he met them, they would be enemies…_**

**_And they did not stop him._**

* * *

_Phase Two – Dreams_

_"Affie-chan!__ Wait up!" seven-year-old Athrun turned around from walking to see his best friend Kira running up, his school bag thumping behind him. He stopped and waited as he ran up, all out of breath. "Why didn't ya wait? You know me don't like waking up!"_

_"Ahhh!"__ Athrun shook his head before mimicking a sweatdrop with his right hand that he had seen some of the older children on the Lunar Colony, Copernicus City, do, "you forgot Kiwa-chan, they're showing the new robotic models today!" Both boys had lost at least one of their front teeth, making pronouncing their names a bit slurred, but they didn't care. Many children their age were losing their baby teeth and growing in new ones, so much that even the teacher was appalled at their language skills._

_"I know…" Kira pouted in anger before a grin lit up his face and the two boys continued on their walk, "ya think they'll let me try?"_

_"Me first!"__ Athrun held up his nose play-acting superiority, "I'm taller than you!"_

_"Well I'm older!" Kira punched him in the shoulder, "me first!"_

_"Only by a few months," the blue-haired boy shot back._

_"So?"_

_"So, I'm taller, so nyah!"_

_"Meanie," Kira stuck his tongue out toe Athrun to which the other boy returned before they started playfully shove each other on the sidewalk, seeing who can shove the other to the edge and onto the grass. Athrun finally got the upper hand as he succeeded in knocking Kira onto the grass and he grinned as he stood on the edge of the sidewalk…_

_"Athrun…why…" it was as if someone had taken a camera and snapped a picture before the scene around him changed. Fire roared everywhere and he found himself in a different outfit. Gone was the school uniform and in place he was in the red ZAFT flight suit, knife in hand, formerly pointed at Kira who had a shocked expression on his face as he stood in front of the woman he didn't know at the time, but got to know as Murrue Ramius._

_"Kira…" he said, the shock of finding his childhood friend among this battlefield froze him to the spot. He suddenly noticed Murrue moving and the soldier inside of him reacted without thinking, jumping backwards to dodge the bullets the woman was firing at him. He reached the cockpit of the Aegis and hopped in, quickly calibrating the mobile suit to his specs…_

_Someone took a succession of snapshots, so brief that he almost didn't catch them, but he knew what they contained. Their fateful battle near Mariko's house…reuniting in Orb under battle…learning to trust each other again and to form that friendship once more..._

_Suddenly it was a longer snapshot and he was back in his school uniform, handing Tori over to Kira. "We'll meet again, right? We'll meet at PLANT where you can belong with other Coordinators…"_

_"Yeah…sure," Kira looked sad and Athrun saw tears prick at the corner of his eyes and even felt some on his own. He swore he would never cry as boys never cried…not if they wanted to be called sissy by the others at the __Lunar__Prep School_

_"Tori!"_

_The soft wind blew the falling cherry blossoms all around them until it obscured his vision and blackness took over… _With that blackness, he started to feel pain around him. His whole body hurt…why did it hurt? He wasn't injured was he? Why did he hurt all over? It felt like someone had ripped his heart out and used it as a sacrifice…and his whole body was in pain because of it. Through the pain he started to hear murmurs that gradually turned into people speaking.

"…think he's coming around…"

"Shhh!"

"You shut up!"

The voices were soft but insistent and as he slowly opened his eyes, he saw the blue-green hued ceiling of a medical bay…it was the medical bay on board the Eternal.

"Athrun?" Lacus' gentle voice spoke to his left and he turned his head slowly seeing her worried expression. Next to her was Cagalli who looked like she had been crying, but had roughly scrubbed her face so that he couldn't see her tears.

"Lacus…Cagalli…" as he eyes focused, he saw that beyond them, peering in from the door of his room in the medical bay was Yzak and Dearka who looked like they had been shoving each other before they spotted him. Yzak raised an eyebrow at him before going away and Dearka just gave him a crooked smile, the two of them seeing that he was awake and was going to be fine.

"We were worried about you…how do you feel?" Lacus asked in her gentle lilting voice.

Athrun swallowed a bit, feeling moisture return to his dry throat. He nodded gratefully as Cagalli held out a small container of water and he sipped it. "I'm…" he tried to flex his fingers, but none of his muscles moved. That was when he realized he was almost numb from head to toe; only his face seemed to be the part of his muscular structure that was functioning. "Numb…" he said.

"The doctor says the anesthetics will wear off in a couple of hours. Athrun…you," Cagalli's eyes started to tear up, "you were shot…there was so much blood, I didn't know if you were going to survive!" She burst out into tears before hastily wiping them away and sniffled slightly. "I'm so glad…that you're alive…"

"Do you…remember what happened?" Lacus asked quietly as he noticed that she was wringing her hands. As far as he had known her, she rarely wringed her hands, the only time he had seen it was when she was extremely worried after an attempted assassination on her father just after they had met for the first time.

Athrun stared up at the ceiling for a moment before turning away from them. He remembered. He knew what had happened, he knew why he had been shot. He had been shot because he had failed. He couldn't save Kira…

"Athrun?" Cagalli's light touch on his shoulder seared across his consciousness. Though he couldn't feel it, he knew she was trying to comfort him. "It's…not your fault…"

"Yes it is," he replied softly, closing his eyes, trying to block out the memory.

_He charged at Kingfisher, his mind focused on the goal of separating Kira from the man's grip. He didn't care about anything except to save Kira… Kira was what was important. Kira was his brother, his best friend; an innocent in this war. He saw his world tip head-over-heels around him as he fell back from the gunshot wound to his chest. It was then that everyone began to get foggy around the edges._

"I couldn't…get Kira away from him," he mumbled opening his eyes staring out of the window that was provided in his room. The stars looked distant and faded from his view…and he knew that somewhere out there, the PLANTs where there, and so was Kira – a prisoner.

"You tried your best, that's all, no one blames you in the least," Cagalli said before shifting slightly in her seat, "we don't blame you…" Her hand suddenly moved from his shoulder to his cheek and he felt her cool touch pulling him away from his gaze at the stars. He turned, very reluctantly, and saw the pain in both their eyes that mirrored his own. "Don't pull away, Athrun, don't leave us alone and pull into that shell…please…"

He knew that he was on the dangerous precipice of falling into his own trap of melancholy, but wasn't solitude worth it? He had always been alone for most of his life, his own companions were his robotic pets that he built and Kira. They were the best of friends, so much that they were like brothers and then he hadn't really sought out any other friends because he was able to relate almost everything to Kira. Even when he left for PLANT and met Lacus, he had a distant relationship with her, not sure of how to proceed with the fact that she was his fiancée.

During that time of separation from Kira, he had built a shell around him, only relying on his solitude and his pets, engaging himself with his accelerated studies. When his mother died during the Bloody Valentine Incident, he had withdrew into that shell further, and enrolled in ZAFT, making others feel that he was aloof and cold.

Even Nicol he held at a distance, only meeting his acquaintance and talking with the gentle young man when the conversation warranted it. He had sensed that Nicol was a reluctant fighter in the war and didn't push it.

The shock of finding out Kira was at the neutral colony of Heliopolis was what started to break the shell and Cagalli was really one of the firsts who actually broke the shell completely. Lacus understood him, but it was Cagalli who really knew him from the heart, the only other person besides Kira.

But wasn't solitude what he wanted? Did he want to go back to that period where he was all alone? It felt good at first, he was able to concentrate and think…yet…it was lonely at times. Human natured deemed that companionship, if on the rare occasion was good for the body and soul – especially in times of heartbreak. Bottling emotions up just wasn't good…it eventually became destructive and that was what had sprung he and Kira's fiercest battle during the war two years ago.

He had kept all those emotions of apathy and fear that one day he was going to face Kira in battle, he hadn't shared it with anyone, and feared that more people were going to die by each of their hand. Nicol's death had triggered that avalanche – the death of whom he had considered and acquaintance, he realized that Nicol was another friend, however distant. That was the spilling point…would that happen again if he bottled up and met Kira on the battlefield once more?

That sudden lancing thought burst through his consciousness and a split second later he knew his answer. His father, no matter cloned, would try to use Kira as a weapon and that was something he or anyone could afford. He had promised Kira when he left in Justice to go to Panama that he would protect him and he sure as hell couldn't do it lying on the bed in solitude.

"Athrun?" Cagalli's voice cracked slightly, hoping he would answer her.

He looked at her, deep into her hazel eyes. "I'll stay…" he whispered, "I won't leave you or anyone else anymore."

She stared at him for a moment, tears of joy shining in her eyes before she suddenly threw her arms around him and buried her face into his shoulder, crying. Athrun was partially glad that he was numb from the neck down or else he knew it would probably hurt a lot to have her weight on him at the moment. He smiled gently as he buried his face into her hair. Through the blonde strands, he saw Lacus wipe away a few strands of tears before leaving the room to let them have some privacy.

This time, he wouldn't fail to save Kira, for his, Cagalli, and Lacus' sake.

* * *

There were murmurs all around him and he couldn't really figure out where they were coming from, except for the fact that they were everywhere. He didn't recognize any of the voices…but somehow, a gut feeling told him that something wasn't right either. In fact, that gut feeling told him that something was terribly wrong. He briefly wondered where he was as he tried to lift open his eyes.

They felt heavy and he could only squint them open. What he saw through his slightly fuzzy vision was a darkened room with a greenish hue. There were doctors and nurses milling around, all wearing surgical masks, all at least carrying something. They didn't look like those aboard any of the LF ships…in fact; the room was too large to be in an LF ship…

Suddenly he sensed that one of the doctors was going to look his way and he snapped shut his eyes, making his body and breathing even as possible to play the fact that he was still sleeping. However, the murmurs that his ears were picking up on started to dissipate into the conversation of the doctors that was going all around him.

"…biology…fascinating…"

"Components of the human cell…reproduction clone technology…"

"…number of tests?"

"…Zala's notes taken from Hibiki, this is…"

"It's cruel in a way…but…"

"…clone of this boy…"

"Operation of the brain by Sven Anderson, according to notes and sources."

"But we can't do that, he's the original source."

"Which is why we're attempting to clone him…"

"That's too rushed, we have to wait until more tests are done. We have to factor in the physical world and the interaction he plays…"

"The battle results are astounding. Haven't you seen them? What more tests do you need?"

"I agree with Dr. Pagrin," a new voice broke into the quarreling scientists and Kira tensed slightly before forcing himself to relax as he recognized the voice. He didn't want to give way to the scientists that he was wide awake and listening to their conversation. He forced himself to breathe in a steady rate, trying to keep his pulse level instead of racing at a hurdling speed.

"Director Zala," the doctor that had spoken about more testing spoke up in the hush of the room.

"Dr. Pagrin, ladies and gentlemen," Patrick Zala's voice was cold, brittle, and Kira faintly mused that this was the first time since he and Athrun parted ways on Copernicus City that he had even seen or heard Patrick Zala's voice. It was not the warm caring voice he had been used to. "What are the initial results?"

"Skyrocketing, Director," a female voice spoke up near Kira's foot, "the boy has the astounding capabilities that are beyond Ulen Hibiki's notes or what anyone else has observed."

"Hmm…excellent," footsteps to which Kira guessed were Zala's started to walk towards him and they stopped near him. He sensed that something was terribly wrong with Zala and remembered the conversation that had transpired when Kingfisher had taken him hostage.

It wasn't that he couldn't struggle out of the man's grasp, it was that he had been in so much shock in the aftermath of the gunfight and in killing Sven Anderson, the man that had caused so much trouble to his family and friends, that he couldn't really handle anymore and he shut down. It was only seeing Athrun shot that he awakened again and tried to fight his way free from Kingfisher's grasp.

However, the man had knocked him unconscious and he blurrily remembered being placed on a shuttle's bed with an IV dripping before he was sedated again. The next thing he remembered was finding himself here, lying on an examining table with scientists all around him.

"Ha!" Zala's suddenly exclamation made Kira jump slightly and he cursed silently for giving away his position. "So, he _is_ awake…" Zala's voice suddenly turned gentle, "Kira…open your eyes. There is nothing to be afraid of. Uncle Patrick is here…"

Kira kept his eyes closed, wishing that all of this was just a nightmare, he would wake up soon…nothing of this was real. He was still in his mother's arms, there in Colony Mendel. He was surrounded by friends; they had defeated the enemy…

"Kira…don't be stubborn to your Uncle Patrick. Remember what your parents taught you? Don't be rude to others," the warm voice that had been the man at Copernicus City, the man that had been Athrun's father, spoke above him and Kira gritted his teeth in an effort not to open his eyes. He wanted to believe that this was Uncle Patrick Zala, but Athrun said that his father had died in Genesis, shot by one of his own men.

Patrick Zala had gone insane during the war two years ago, and wasn't the same man as he was all those years ago. This was not Uncle Patrick…this was just a trick, a trick…

"A trick…" he whispered as he kept his eyes closed.

"Not a trick, Kira. I'm right here, your Uncle Patrick," Zala said.

"You died. You died in Genesis. Athrun and Cagalli told me," he said in a slightly quavering voice.

"I didn't…Athrun and Cagalli were wrong. I'm right here, and if you open your eyes, you can see me," Zala replied in the same gentle voice, but Kira could hear a brittleness in them.

Kira finally opened his eyes, staring up at the aged face of the man that was Patrick Zala. He looked exactly like he did all those years ago on Copernicus City, except with a lot more grey hairs and crystalline eyes. He narrowed his eyes slightly, "You're a clone."

That provoked a reaction from Zala and Kira felt his head snap to one side, his left cheek slamming painfully into the cool metal of the examination table, his right cheek burning where Zala had hit him. He didn't even cry out, all of the anger and frustration of what had happened to him built up in him to the point that he didn't care anymore. But one thing he cared about, was escaping from whatever this place was and getting back to his family. Back to Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, and his parents.

His hands curled slightly as he pushed himself up slowly, a bit oblivious to the gasps of the scientists or their exclamations of him overcoming the sedative. His tee-shirt and boxers that he usually wore under his flightsuit when he piloted the Freedom hung limply from his shoulders. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he hung his head and turned a side-ways look at Zala who was smirking at him though anger was burning deep in his eyes.

"The real Patrick Zala wouldn't do something like this. Athrun was right, he is dead and the only thing I see is just an imitation. Whatever you do to me, I will not cooperate," he said in a cold voice, glaring at the man.

"Then you never knew of my true intentions, Kira Yamato. And in due time, you will cooperate or you will see your friends and family suffer," Zala replied in an equally cold voice.

* * *

Quinn Misali stepped away from the examination room after hearing what Zala had replied to the boy's defiant words. Walking down the bare halls of the secluded space on the PLANT that was the home to the newest incarnation of the happenings of Colony Mendel, he had to admit that Kira Yamato was either insane or had the guts to stand up to Zala.

The boy had earned his respect as a mobile suit pilot, but even then, he was only human. His job was done and now he had the time to relax before his next assignment. He had wondered if he should help Kira escape, but had shoved the thought to the side as it was just a job…he had no obligations to Kira nor to anyone in the LF to bring back their precious little Coordinator.

That was what had disgusted him when he worked for the LF. Each person on there, with probably the exception of Yzak Joule, had held Kira in such a high esteem, though the boy was barely aware of it, that it made him sickened to see that one person was so doted upon that everything depended on him.

He believed in teamwork, and that no one person was a hero and beacon to others. It just set the team and the person up for martyrdom.

"Are you sure your consciousness wants the boy's capture on it?" a feminine voice startled him and he stopped before staring into the shadows where a woman was leaning against the wall, almost casually.

"It's none of your concern Dr. Madison," he said as the woman walked out of the shadows. She had a brown bob and wore blue-rimmed glasses. She wasn't pretty or gorgeous, but her eyes were sharp and she was a scientist. Dr. Madison Francis was one of the top Coordinator geneticists in PLANT. What she was doing here working for Zala was beyond him, but he didn't concern himself with it. After all, Zala probably needed someone who knew what were the Coordinators' genes to help him continue Ulen Hibiki's research.

"He probably will be tortured," she continued, tapping her foot.

"And?" Quinn asked, daring her to continue.

"Zala will try to change him…"

"Is this supposed to affect me because it isn't working," he said evenly, "I did my job. Now do yours." He spun on his heel and walked away, leaving the doctor staring at him.

"Then if it must be, I'll do my job," Madison pushed up her glasses before adjusting them on her nose. "I only pray for your soul Quinn, and that you'll eventually do the right thing, otherwise, we would all be in trouble."


	3. Determination

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Timeframe:**

In the events of Phase Nineteen, Kira appeared at the last moment to kill Sven Anderson along with Athrun who killed Griever, Kira's clone-brother. However, during the clean-up process, it is where things take a nasty twist.

**Story:**

**_Previously on Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces…_**

**_"Athrun?"_****_ Cagalli's light touch on his shoulder seared across his consciousness. Though he couldn't feel it, he knew she was trying to comfort him. "It's…not your fault…"_**

**_"Yes it is," he replied softly, closing his eyes, trying to block out the memory._**

**_"You tried your best, that's all, no one blames you in the least," Cagalli said before shifting slightly in her seat, "we don't blame you…" Her hand suddenly moved from his shoulder to his cheek and he felt her cool touch pulling him away from his gaze at the stars. He turned, very reluctantly, and saw the pain in both their eyes that mirrored his own. "Don't pull away, Athrun, don't leave us alone and pull into that shell…please…"_**

**_He looked at her, deep into her hazel eyes. "I'll stay…" he whispered, "I won't leave you or anyone else anymore."_**

**_"A trick…" he whispered as he kept his eyes closed._**

**_"Not a trick, Kira. I'm right here, your Uncle Patrick," Zala said._**

**_"You died. You died in Genesis. Athrun and Cagalli told me," he said in a slightly quavering voice._**

**_"I didn't…Athrun and Cagalli were wrong. I'm right here, and if you open your eyes, you can see me," Zala replied in the same gentle voice, but Kira could hear a brittleness in them._**

**_Kira finally opened his eyes, staring up at the aged face of the man that was Patrick Zala. He looked exactly like he did all those years ago on _****_Copernicus_****_City_****_, except with a lot more grey hairs and crystalline eyes. He narrowed his eyes slightly, "You're a clone."_**

**_That provoked a reaction from Zala and Kira felt his head snap to one side, his left cheek slamming painfully into the cool metal of the examination table, his right cheek burning where Zala had hit him._**

**_"The real Patrick Zala wouldn't do something like this. Athrun was right, he is dead and the only thing I see is just an imitation. Whatever you do to me, I will not cooperate," he said in a cold voice, glaring at the man._**

**_"Then you never knew of my true intentions, Kira Yamato. And in due time, you will cooperate or you will see your friends and family suffer," Zala replied in an equally cold voice._**

**_

* * *

_**

_Phase Three – Determination_

Cagalli sat in the mess hall aboard the _Babylon_, a cup of coffee in her hands. The coffee had gone cold a long time ago, but she didn't care. Athrun was sleeping off the anesthetics, his incredible healing abilities given to him as a Coordinator speeding up the process. However, it had been three days since they had defeated Sven Anderson and the LF forces were going to split up. Lacus was headed back to PLANT in the _Eternal_ after they had transferred the Justice and Athrun to the _Babylon_. She was going back to warn Eileen Canaver that Patrick Zala was alive and probably preparing a coup de etat against the current Supreme Council.

She, herself, had to get back to Aube as her country was probably wondering where their leader was by now. She had stayed too long in the war zone and there was the effort of rebuilding relations with OMNI and rebuilding the Senate Hall in Aube to keep the peace going. The Colony Mendel battle was such a small battle in comparison to what had been happening in the world of politics.

The LF had done its first major job with a victory, but now they were off to prevent another one from occurring. This time, she knew that she would be confined to the seat of politics instead of the battlefield, in an effort to prevent the cloned Patrick Zala from taking over and reliving the nightmare at Jakin Due.

But she wanted nothing more than to search for her twin brother. She wanted to know where he was…the link that they shared as all but closed to her at such a far distance. She had faith that Lacus would launch an internal investigation using her own Clyne Faction to search for Kira, and she trusted her friend's wisdom, but she wanted to search for Kira herself.

"Kira will be all right, he's strong," the gentle voice of Kira's mother Kanoko spoke from the door to the empty mess hall and Cagalli looked up as she walked towards her before sitting down next to her.

"I know Mrs. Yamato," even though Kanoko had insisted that she call her Kanoko or Aunt Kanoko, she couldn't bring herself to do so. "It's just that…"

"You're frustrated because the duties you have to Aube take you away, is that it?" Kira's mother finished her thought for her.

"Yeah," Cagalli sighed and sipped some of her cold coffee, grimacing at the horrible taste. "Sometimes, I wish that I wasn't a Princess of Aube," she continued before a bitter laugh escaped her lips, "Mrs. Yamato, why did it have to be this way? Why couldn't Kira and I grow up normally? Why did this happen?"

"I would answer because it is fate, but it wouldn't matter to you Cagalli," Kanoko reached over and placed a comforting hand on hers, giving it a gentle squeeze, "but what I can tell you is that you have to be strong. You and Kira have always been strong no matter what was thrown your way. It's a trait that your mother passed on to you…and I can see much of her in your spirit, Cagalli.

"Kira…" Cagalli saw her hesitate on her son's name and realized that the woman had gone through so much in so long that her problems were childish in comparison with what former Dr. Kanoko Kamiya had gone through to keep their secret with her father Uzumi. "Kira…had been the more dependent and fragile than the two of you, but when you were just newborns, even you were the one to support Kira. Don't falter now for his sake…and for your own…"

"I know…" Cagalli whispered. Kira had always seemed independent, carrying the weight of the world on his gentle shoulders. She had tried to wake him up out of his stupor in the aftermath of the bombing and when Athrun left to join the LF at Panama and even then she had seen how fragile he was. She couldn't afford to falter now…not with everything hanging in balance.

She decided right then and there that she would do everything in her power as the leader of Aube to try to find out the whereabouts of her brother, no matter the cost. She had to get Kira back…for her sake, for Athrun's sake, for Lacus' sake, and for her brother's own sake. Looking up at Kanoko she smiled slightly, "Thank you…"

"You're welcome, Cagalli. Anytime you need advice or just someone to talk to, I will be here for you," Kanoko brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face before sighing, "You look so much like your mother Katherine…" She got up and started to leave before turning around again, "I had originally came here to tell you that we were about to enter Earth's orbit."

"All right," Cagalli nodded, "tell Ledonil I'll be up on the bridge in a few minutes. I just want to check on Athrun once more…" Cagalli replied and Kanoko nodded before leaving, the door hissing closed behind her.

Cagalli stared out into the starry blackness of space, knowing that at the PLANTs her brother was somewhere there. They would get Kira back, alive and safe.

* * *

Lacus Clyne sat in the lift that took her directly to the Supreme Council Hall on the PLANT of December City. Next to her on either side were two men dressed in black suits, her bodyguards. Across from her in the lift was Yzak Joule and Dearka Elsman, the latter of the two looking a bit uncomfortable to be back at PLANT whereas Yzak looked completely at ease. Beside them, Andy Bartfield stood, looking wistfully at the aerial scenery that descended at a slow rate as the lift headed downwards from the spaceport. Senator Amalfi also stood, staring out at the window, an expressionless face.

Pinkie sat in her lap, somehow sensing the solemn mood in the lift and only flapped its arm covers, occasionally floating slightly in the air as the near zero-g of the lift took them down. Eileen needed to be warned that Patrick Zala was alive, albeit a cloned form, but nonetheless alive. Then she would have to contact the secret members of the Clyne Faction of the LF – but that was a job Yzak could handle, her most trusted member.

As the lift stopped and the doors opened, Lacus got up and walked through, her bodyguards and the rest of her entourage trailing behind her. Making a beeline towards the Council Hall where she knew that Eileen was probably in a meeting with a few of the committee members so it wasn't barging into a full council meeting. That would be good, as the less people knew the better…there were too many chances that someone on the Council was a spy.

She breezed past the guards, telling them that the rest of her entourage was with her and had high clearances. A few of the guards recognized her and Amalfi and hastily stepped aside. One guard opened the door to the Council Hall and she stepped in, halting the conversation that had been happening between Eileen, Ezalia Joule, and Tad Elsman.

"Lacus, you're-"

She waved a hand, cutting off whatever Eileen was going to say and approached them, tossing Pinkie to one of her bodyguards who was used to catching it on her whim, "Good you're all here." Turning back to the guard that opened the door she smiled at him, "Can you make sure that we are not bothered for a while?"

"Of course Miss Lacus," the guard said before walking out and locking the door with a barely audible click.

She noticed that a few people were looking at her in surprise. She had rarely been forceful in her efforts, and this was probably one of her rare moments. She really never had the disposition to be forceful with her words, even her father noticed that, but her father had told her that when the time came, she could be as stubborn as ever.

"Lacus, what is this about?" Eileen asked as she gestured for the rest of her entourage to sit in the seats that were supposed to be occupied by the rest of the Supreme Council and she noticed with a slight smile that a few of them were hesitating in sitting in the seats, but a couple of others like Yzak just sat down, no questions asked.

"I apologize for disrupting your conversation, Councilors, but I need your resources immediately," she gestured for Eileen, Ezalia, and Tad to sit down, and they did, reluctantly. She saw Tad give a quick look to his son Dearka who was avoiding his gaze.

"What is it? Has Sven Anderson not been defeated?" Eileen looked worried and Ezalia had a pinched look on her face.

"He has," Lacus reassured them, "but he was working for someone else."

"What?" Eileen asked, surprised, but she managed to keep her face from showing the shock.

"He claimed to be working for Patrick Zala."

"WHAT?!" this time there was no keeping shock from either Eileen's face or Tad Elsman's face. Only Ezalia slowly lowered her head down.

"He did it then…" the white-haired councilor said and Lacus stared at her.

"Mother?" even Yzak was shocked.

Ezalia didn't raise her head up and instead shook it, a bitter laugh coming out of her lips. "He really did it, that bastard."

Lacus knew better than to pry…she knew Ezalia would tell them what she was talking about, and so waited patiently for the woman to continue.

"Ezalia, what are you-"

"I assume by now since you've been to Colony Mendel you know of what happened? Of what Sven Anderson was? And of what happened there with Ulen Hibiki's genetic research?" Ezalia asked, still not lifting her head up.

"He was trying to create the ultimate coordinator, but there was no record of success or not," Tad said and inwardly Lacus breathed a quick sigh of relief – no one knew Kira's secret…which she intended to keep it that way.

"But he also dabbled into cloning as a side hobby of sorts," Ezalia continued, "he was funded by Patrick Zala and Anton Ariga LaFlaga. However, it was assumed that Zala was only interested in the ultimate coordinator research and LaFlaga too, until there was once where LaFlaga had demanded that since he was providing the funds to Hibiki that he use his current research and make a clone of him, so he would be able to live forever.

"Hibiki agreed and the clone of LaFlaga was born…and named Rau Le Creuset," Ezalia lifted her head up and Lacus saw that there was no emotion in her eyes.

The rest of the room gasped at the announcement but Lacus tilted her head slightly, "But there was a problem with the cloning process wasn't there?"

"That's why the man was crazy," Yzak whispered.

"No," Ezalia replied, shaking her head, "Rau Le Creuset wasn't insane. He was cold, calculating, but not insane. It was Patrick Zala who made him that way. Zala was the one responsible for the man that fought in the war."

"What?!" Dearka laughed mirthlessly, "Forgive me Councilor, but Commander Le Creuset seemed like he didn't care for Zala's words or for anyone of that matter."

"As both LaFlaga and Zala were funding Hibiki's research, it was natural that Zala found out about the cloning accomplishment and demanded that he too have a clone. But his jealousy of having a clone that was second to what LaFlaga had was unabated and so, he had LaFlaga killed and took in the rapidly aging Le Creuset to mold him to his own. He twisted Le Creuset's mind using the genetics that he had gotten from Hibiki's research. Ultimately, Zala wanted control of everything and that was why he even had Hibiki killed and all notes either destroyed or in his possession," Ezalia's voice had not wavered or changed. "That man was the insane one…"

"How do you know all of this Ezalia?" Eileen looked completely shocked.

Lacus watched as the woman looked at the Supreme Chairwoman with a sad look on her face, "I was the one who killed LaFlaga and conspired with Hibiki's wife to eliminate what was happening in Colony Mendel."

Lacus blinked in surprise. This was something she hadn't expected. Ezalia knew Kira and Cagalli's mother…but did she know about everything else? She could sense that the white-haired woman only knew about Katherine Hibiki and Sven Anderson so which meant that she didn't know about the inside conspiracy between Uzumi Attha, Ledonil Kisaka, and Kanoko Yamato.

"But…how…"

"That was why I had ordered you to infiltrate the Talon and try to eliminate Sven Anderson from within. I knew about the genetic manipulation and almost everything that was going on from within. I knew there were a few things kept from me, but since Zala had eliminated Hibiki and LaFlaga, he used the fact that I knew this to force me to become his voice and to preach his ideals during the war," Ezalia turned to look at Lacus, "I apologize Miss Lacus Clyne for all of the grief I had caused during the war. I really followed your father's ideals for peace, but…"

"No need for an apology Ezalia," Lacus smiled gently, "you had to protect your family."

She briefly looked at Yzak who was lost in deep thought before turning back to Eileen, Ezalia, and Tad who had looked completely bewildered throughout the whole conversation. "However, Ezalia, when you said that Zala ordered a clone produced of him, you knew of it, correct?"

"Yes. And I had thought he had discarded it, destroyed his clone. I had put feelers out to hunt down traces of the clone after Zala died at Jakin Due, but when those came up empty, I had thought the clone was destroyed. I should have known better…" she curled a fist in anger.

"Stop blaming yourself Ezalia," Aaron Yuri Amalfi suddenly spoke up, having been quiet the whole time, "none of us could have known. War makes all of us fools, and so we are here, to make up and pay for the mistakes we've done. You were doing your duty just as I was in trying to create the Freedom and Justice."

"But Aaron…Yuri…your son…"

"Nicol can't be replaced, but he sacrificed his life for us, to keep us alive," Amalfi said in a hardened voice, "this new problem we have is just another road block to peace."

"Senator Amalfi is correct," Lacus smiled at the man before turning to face Eileen, "you'll need to alert ZAFT that there is a traitor in the PLANTs. Don't give out Zala's name, it will cause panic. Ezalia, will you be able to get your Intelligence Division to search for any traces of Zala?"

"Yes. I'll have my top people on it," Ezalia looked confident.

"Tad, since your field is biochemistry, we'll need to check all of the pharmaceuticals for a specific type of drug that is ingested. From what I know of Rau Le Creuset, the aging process has a toll on the physical capabilities and he had to take a certain type of medicine to prevent that. Do you Yzak or Dearka know of what medication he took?"

"No, Miss Lacus," both Dearka and Yzak shook their heads, "he was very secretive with what he did in his office."

"All right…I'll see if Athrun has any information his father left for him about the cloning process," Lacus paused for a second before getting up, the rest of them also rising from their seats. "Eileen, tell the rest of the Council, but if word of this gets out, we could have problems."

"Don't worry Lacus, we'll find Zala and stop him," she replied before Lacus bowed slightly and walked out of the room, Yzak, Dearka, and her bodyguards following her. Amalfi stayed behind to talk some more with the rest of them.

As soon as they were back on the lift, headed towards another part of the PLANT Lacus looked at Yzak and Dearka. "You two know what's at stake here. Though you don't know why Kira was kidnapped, you do know that if Zala has him there will be problems."

"Don't worry Miss Lacus, we'll find him," Dearka smirked, leaning back, "so this is what it feels like to be undercover for the Clyne Faction of the LF."

"Don't get used to it," Yzak poked him in the ribs and Lacus smiled at their antics. She knew that they were trying to cheer her up and she appreciated the effort. As she looked outside at the beautiful scenery of the PLANT she briefly wondered if Kira was somewhere in the PLANTs…and if so, could she sense him?

_Kira…be safe…come home to us…to me…_

_

* * *

_

Kira awoke once more to find himself in a darkened room…no it was more like a cell, he observed as he slowly sat up on the barely comfortable bed he was placed on, still feeling lethargic. The attempt he made to speak to Patrick Zala taxed him a lot as the drugs they had pumped into him literally were an effort to shake off. He had wanted to escape then and there, but all of his energy had been to just make himself sit up and face the madman.

A sudden stinging pain made him look at his arm in the dim light that filtered through the cracks on the door and he stared at his right hand and noticed that an IV was attached. He pulled at the IV, hissing a bit in pain as he pulled the needle out and tossed it to the side of his bed. With that out of the way, he leaned back against the wall that his bed was attached to, feeling the coolness of the metal seep into his head, making him a bit more alert.

Looking around, he saw that the room he was placed in had bare walls and the only light that was shining through was that of where the door was. A sudden chill racked his body and he curled up, hugging his legs to his chest, trying to conserve whatever warmth he had as he was still in his shorts and tee-shirt he usually wore underneath his flightsuit. There was no blanket on the bed he was placed on so he hugged himself until he felt the chill go away.

He briefly wondered how long had he been out since his conversation with Zala…whatever they had injected into him was messing with his sense of time. He slowly uncurled himself and slowly got up, grabbing the side of the bed for support as he felt a wave of dizziness pass over him. As soon as the dizziness passed, he took a few tentative steps forward, trying to make sure he had a good footing.

Walking slowly towards one of the walls he touched it, his hands exploring all of the little nooks in the walls, trying to find something that would be a panel of sorts. If the walls were metal, he was either on a ship or in a PLANT and where there were metal walls, on the other side there had to be wiring of sorts. He didn't really know anything about being a prisoner of war, but he did know that human instinct wouldn't want to be cooped up involuntarily – escape was the first thing.

He was half way to the other side when the door opened with a hiss and Kira looked up to see a woman in a lab coat standing as bright light poured in, obscuring most of her features. He raised up an arm to block the harsh light from blinding him before the door hissed close once more, plunging the room into near-darkness once more. Suddenly, dim lights flooded the room, not as bright as it was outside, but bright enough that it didn't hurt his eyes, and he finally saw what the woman looked like.

She had a brown hair that was cut into a bob and she wore rimmed glasses to which her dark eyes were staring at him. She wasn't gorgeous, but she was pretty in Kira's opinion, but her gaze didn't make him feel uncomfortable at all, instead it was filled with sympathy and a hint of regret.

"You really shouldn't do that Kira," the woman said, adjusting her blue-rimmed glasses before she shuffled a few papers in the clipboard she was carrying. Kira was mildly surprised to see actual paper on the clipboard – most people just used datapads or computers for notes.

"A prisoner's first obligation is to escape," he replied turning to face her, letting his hands rest by his side. If she made any move towards him, he would take her down…

"That's only in the movies, Kira," she said, her voice neutral.

"Stop calling me by my name. I don't even know who you are," he replied.

"Ah…so you do still have the sense of what the Japanese customs…well considering that your adopted mother and father were Japanese, it's probably their well-being to teach you the proper and ancient Japanese customs," she tapped the top of her clipboard and suddenly Kira found that her gaze became a bit less friendly.

Gone was the sympathetic look and regret and in place was a cool calculating stare. It unnerved him and he forced himself to stare right back, "Who are you?"

"If you really want to know, I'm Dr. Madison Francis. There, we're properly introduced, Kira."

"Stop calling me Kira," he replied.

"Fine then. Yamato-san," she suddenly spoke in fluent Japanese and Kira blinked, trying hard to follow the words. He had heard his parents speak in Japanese when he was younger, and was able to pick up on some of what they said, but now…he couldn't even follow her.

"You didn't even get that did you?" the doctor smirked at his expression, "should I keep calling you Yamato-san or will you cooperate?"

"I'll never cooperate with you," Kira replied coldly, "I told Zala that I'll never bow down to whatever he has in store for me."

"You know…it would be beneficial if you did. Otherwise we wouldn't have to resort to drastic measures," she made a few marks on the clipboard.

"I don't care if you torture me or not," Kira said, trying to project an air of confidence.

"Who said anything about torture?" she said.

Kira snorted, "Ha! Don't give me that bullshit. You've caught me. I'm a prisoner of whatever psychotic schemes you and Zala have set up. There is torture involved-"

She raised a dismissive hand, "You've been watching too many movies Kira. I'm only here just to see how you're doing and yet you've gone all defensive on me."

"What did you expect? That I be submissive?" Kira snapped back, feeling frustrated.

"At least we wouldn't have to keep you locked up in here," Dr. Madison replied in a sad voice.

"I suppose you wouldn't tell me where here is, would you?" Kira didn't expect a positive answer.

"You're in one of the PLANTs. I can't tell you which one, but you're in the PLANTs," her reply startled him.

"You're lying," he narrowed his eyes, searching her features for any sign of deception even though he didn't know how to find it. Wasn't it customary for the "bad-guy" not to reveal the location or even tell anything to the prisoner, only to gloat?

"Why would I lie? I've got no problem telling you about where you are," she replied in a frank voice.

"Aren't you afraid that I will try to escape?" Kira was starting to get a bit confused. The woman in front of him was a puzzle…

"By all means. If you can, go ahead," she lifted her arm and the door hissed open, "I'm not going to stop you."

"What?!" he was starting to get real confused.

"Escape. Go. What are you waiting for?" she waved her hand at him and Kira blinked before taking a few steps forward, just to see if she would move to stop him. When she didn't he ran towards the open door.

He was half way to the door when out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her move towards him. He ducked underneath her first blow and tried to lash out to disable her in any way, but his arms still felt lethargic from the drugs and completely missed her. Suddenly, pain exploded on his spine and he felt paralyzed, his body suddenly dropping to the ground like a stone. He could only move his head and turned to see her standing over him, her face expressionless.

"What…"

"I apologize Kira, but right now, it's for your own good," she said before she lashed out with her foot and then blackness consumed his vision.

* * *

Dr. Madison Francis stared down at the unconscious boy. Why did Patrick order the capture of this boy? He was just a child who knew nothing of warfare. To capture him and then subject him to all the tests…was he truly the ultimate creation of Dr. Ulen Hibiki? She had a hard time putting her finger on that one – even though the tests that were done on him by the preliminary team showed that he was the ultimate coordinator, but still…he was only a child.

She suddenly bent down and wiped a few strands of his brown hair away from his face, marveling at how young he looked. The boy was just merely eighteen…still a child by her standards. She would do her job…but she would watch this boy…

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry for the long wait. I was inspired to finish this chapter after viewing Ep. 14 of _Gundam SEED Destiny_. WAHAHAH! Kira rescuing Cagalli from the altar in the Freedom – PRICELESS! Take that Yuuna you bastard!


	4. Plans

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

**_Previously on Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces…_**

**_"Kira…had been the more dependent and fragile than the two of you, but when you were just newborns, even you were the one to support Kira. Don't falter now for his sake…and for your own…"_**

**_"I know…" Cagalli whispered._**

**_

* * *

_**

**_"What is it? Has Sven Anderson not been defeated?" Eileen looked worried and Ezalia had a pinched look on her face._**

**_"He has," Lacus reassured them, "but he was working for someone else."_**

**_"What?" Eileen asked, surprised, but she managed to keep her face from showing the shock._**

**_"He claimed to be working for Patrick Zala."_**

**_"WHAT?!" this time there was no keeping shock from either Eileen's face or Tad Elsman's face. Only Ezalia slowly lowered her head down._**

**_"He did it then…" the white-haired councilor said and Lacus stared at her._**

**_

* * *

_**

**_"Senator Amalfi is correct," Lacus smiled at the man before turning to face Eileen, "you'll need to alert ZAFT that there is a traitor in the PLANTs. Don't give out Zala's name, it will cause panic. Ezalia, will you be able to get your Intelligence Division to search for any traces of Zala?"_**

**_"Yes. I'll have my top people on it," Ezalia looked confident._**

**_"Tad, since your field is biochemistry, we'll need to check all of the pharmaceuticals for a specific type of drug that is ingested. From what I know of Rau Le Creuset, the aging process has a toll on the physical capabilities and he had to take a certain type of medicine to prevent that. Do you Yzak or Dearka know of what medication he took?"_**

**_"No, Miss Lacus," both Dearka and Yzak shook their heads, "he was very secretive with what he did in his office."_**

**_"All right…I'll see if Athrun has any information his father left for him about the cloning process," Lacus paused for a second before getting up, the rest of them also rising from their seats. "Eileen, tell the rest of the Council, but if word of this gets out, we could have problems."_**

**_"Don't worry Lacus, we'll find Zala and stop him," she replied._**

**_

* * *

_**

_Phase Four – Plans_

Athrun stared at the readouts that were in front of him. These were the notes that Mrs. Yamato had personally handed to him. They contained all of the information concerning Dr. Hibiki's research that she had…and he was hoping that there was some clue in there to help him figure out what Patrick Zala, he refused to call the clone his father, was going to do with Kira.

"Do you want a break Athrun?" Erica Simmons asked as she passed by him, carrying a mug of coffee.

"No thank you," he replied, flipping to another set of notes. His eyes scanned the material quickly, a part of him horrified at what the research contained. No wonder Kira's mother was so quiet and very reluctant to say anything about her son's past. These tests and their results were certainly frightening and he had begun to understand why his father was so interested in this research.

He knew that the population of Coordinators was becoming less and less with each generation that was born and some of the research that Dr. Hibiki conducted could potentially prevent Coordinators from becoming a thing of the past in the future. But this… He closed the file and sat back, unable to read further on. He had to take a break from all of this…horror show…

Closing his eyes briefly, he massaged his temples. His father was truly insane…what had his mother seen in the man known as Patrick Zala. He remembered that his father had been a kind gentle man when they were living at Copernicus City, sometimes doting, but he always had a smiling face. Was that the same man that had tried to hunt down Kira? There was the possibility of a split personality, but his father was a Coordinator, second generation, and his genes were supposed to prevent any disease or any defects.

However, he had read in Hibiki's notes that even though Coordinators were created to be perfect genetically to the parent's wishes, the possibility of having problems was in the mother's womb, that was why he created an artificial womb to try to combat that particular problem. It was feasible that his father might have developed a genetic anomaly and had a split personality – but then…

Why did he want Kira for all of this? His thoughts were interrupted as Erica tapped his shoulder, making him open his eyes and stare up at her.

"You might want to see the news. Something's happened," she said and he quickly touched a few buttons to bring up a TV feed on the monitor he was working on.

"-we repeat this broadcast, we would like to warn viewers that what you're about to see is pretty graphic and to use your best judgment if your children are in the room" the anchor sitting at the news desk was saying, "the event happened just mere hours ago and our satellite feeds only caught this."

The anchor looked pale, but as the camera switched to the footage, Athrun saw that she turned her head to the side, where streaks of tears could be seen over her make-up. The footage was blurry and a bit distorted, but he nonetheless felt his jaw drop a few centimeters at what he saw. It was a medium sized metropolis, an aerial view when suddenly there was an explosion from one of the buildings then suddenly what looked like red claws of destruction radiated outwards from the epicenter of the initial explosion. Athrun had seen that type of reddish explosion before…it was the deadly radiation from microwaves generated by Genesis…

And from what he saw, he was reminded that something similar to this happened to Josh-A base in Alaska in the war two years ago. That was the Cyclops system – had someone built a system underneath the metropolis and it accidentally went off?

"Reports have been flooding in that this was no ordinary explosion," the reporter came back on, "and ZAFT, Orb, and OMNI military officials confirm that it was similar to the weapons used in the destruction of the Josh-A base in Alaska, and the Genesis at Jakin Due. As viewers might remember, after the Armistice Treaty was signed by both factions of the PLANTs and Earth, anything related to neutron jammers was immediately sealed up. So this leaves the question – who knew.

"Right now fingers are pointed at both and we go live to the Senate floor in Orb's Onogoro Island to see what the delegates and representatives are discussing about. Here is David Glenn."

"Currently both OMNI and ZAFT are pointing fingers at each other, blaming each other for violating the treaty and Orb's leader Princess Cagalli Yula Attha has not gotten up to stop the two main representatives. Tensions are obviously high in this room, we'll listen in to the arguments for a while," the reporter had his cameraman pan to the floor where Athrun saw Cagalli standing at the podium, a bit harried as she was probably hastily escorted from her office to the Senate, still being rebuilt after the explosion caused by Griever weeks ago, her expression stoic.

Meanwhile, he saw that the two head representatives of OMNI and ZAFT, not of PLANT or Earth, were yelling at each other, jabbing fingers and occasionally giving each other obscene gestures. Athrun shook his head before flipping off the TV; it would take a while for them to cool down so it was pointless to watch.

"Why didn't we get any information on this?" he asked Erica who had sat down next to him to watch the feed.

"We had been in the middle of investigating the metropolis for a few months, but there was no solid lead in there. There's already a team sent out to figure out if it was indeed a Cyclops-like system or if something was fired from space down to the city," Erica explained.

"But if it was from space, PLANT would have had plenty of warning," Athrun mused quietly to himself before he suddenly thought of something, "unless…"

"Athrun?"

"Hold on," he quickly brought up the notes he had inherited after his father died and quickly scanned through them. He finally found what he was looking for. "Look," he pointed at the notes, "my father before he died was planning to build more of 'Genesis' like systems, except he wanted to use the remnants of Junius Seven to set it up as a base against the Earth. He was originally going to use the Genesis at Jakin Due to destroy part of the Earth, but he also had plans to set up another one to prevent the re-colonization of Earth by Naturals."

"So you're saying that the blast came from space and it wasn't like the Cyclops system?" Erica asked.

"Most likely," he brought up the TV feed again, which just so happened to repeat the newscast again, showing the footage. "Look, the blast isn't what you expect of the Cyclops system. Though it looks like it's not at an angle, there is a slight discrepancy of how the buildings are destroyed."

"Didn't you say these were your father's plans, only given to you? Because that would mean that someone else got their hands on these plans," she frowned and Athrun pursed his lips.

"It can also mean that the clone of Patrick Zala is the one who built this," he whispered.

"But…that's not possible…it would take at least months to build one on Junius Seven, unless…" Erica trailed off as the same thought occurred to her.

"Unless he was using Sven Anderson as a decoy for everything he was working on. Let loose the Talon to do his dirty little schemes while he built a weapon of death in space," he finished Erica's unspoken thought.

"I'll call Captain Ramius and the others of the LF immediately," Erica said.

"I'll brief Cagalli. Meet you in the secondary briefing room in one hour," he said as she left.

* * *

By the time he was able to talk to Cagalli Athrun only had fifteen minutes to tell her his theory and at the same time take her to the main briefing room in Morganroete of the LF. The Senate Hall had adjourned for a few hours, as tensions rose just a bit too high and a near scuffle broke out between Senator Ivensten, who had taken over Earth Majority Leader Senator Ingriss' position after she had died during the bombings, and Senator Gabriel of the PLANTs. Since Senator Amalfi and Lacus were not there, Gabriel was technically the representative of all PLANTs.

All of the media networks were currently playing the proceedings and each network had their own theory. Some analysts were blaming PLANT and others the Earth – much like what had happened after the bombing. But still, a great many of them were questioning the LF itself – why didn't they come to the aid? How could they not have known? Where was the peacekeeping force they were supposed to be?

"You do know that if you go up to Junius Seven right now, there will be suspicions and PLANT will have a fit of sorts," Cagalli said as they sat in the back of her car that was driving towards Morganroete.

"It'll probably just be the _Archangel_ then. The other LF ships are going to have to keep patrolling and looking for any signs of that clone," Athrun said in a slightly bitter voice.

"Why not the _Babylon_? _Archangel_ is too visible of a ship. Everyone knows what it looks like," she replied.

"If the _Babylon_ goes, then it would cause panic, as it is only a ship that was unveiled in recent days. PLANT trusts the _Archangel_, as it may be a former OMNI ship – and they know that Lacus will vouch for it if it goes anywhere," he explained and Cagalli nodded before her expression became quiet.

"You'll also be going?" she asked quietly.

"I have to," Athrun put an arm around her and drew her closer to him, "If that thing is up there…there might be something about why my father wanted to kidnap Kira so badly. And…" he hesitated, "I want to know if everything about my father is true – or was he the father I knew before mother died."

"I want to come with you," she said.

"I want you to come too…but…"

"I know, my duties here," she laughed bitterly, "my father entrusted the future to us. But I don't want to live the life of a politician…I'm not cut out for it. I want to be like you Athrun, free…but it can't be helped can it?"

"One day, you'll be free of that and then we will go anywhere among the stars. But until that day, be strong. I told you before, I won't leave you, ever," he kissed her briefly on her lips as the car pulled to a stop by the main Morganroete building.

They got out and headed towards the secondary briefing room where the LF personnel usually met and took her seat at a circular table that was set up in the room. Athrun sat next to her, noticing Erica and the command crew of the _Archangel_ was there along with Ledonil Kisaka and Kira's parents.

"Thank you for coming. The reason the _Archangel_ is the only one being sent up there because you currently are the only ship that has the respect of both OMNI forces and ZAFT forces," Cagalli started after a few seconds of getting her composure up, "Captain, I must stress that your actions are going to reflect whether Orb or the LF can survive into the future. Currently, opinion in the Senate of Orb's policy and of the LF's is bad. They think we can't prevent something like this from happening and opinion is low."

"I understand," Murrue replied.

"But…if it is a dead end," she dared not look at Athrun, but she had to cover all of her bases, "head to PLANT to help Lacus…"

"All right," the woman nodded and Cagalli could see sympathy in her eyes, but then again they had all been through hell these past few weeks so she didn't really mind. All of those that belonged to the LF stood up and saluted her before walking out, save for Murrue and Athrun who stayed behind to converse, probably about transferring the Justice to the _Archangel_.

Cagalli turned and saw Kira's parents approaching her. "Mr. and Mrs. Yamato," she greeted.

"I take it that Athrun's going to go help the Archangel," Kanoko stated, glancing at Athrun who was in deep conversation with Murrue.

Cagalli nodded and Kanoko continued, "Cagalli, I will continue looking through the notes Patrick Zala had gathered during the experiment so we can find Kira."

"Yes…" Cagalli sensed that there was something that Kanoko was hesitating to tell her.

"Cagalli, Keiji wants to join the LF," she started then stopped and Cagalli frowned.

What was going on? They were adults and so were able to make their own choice. Why were they telling her this?

"I know the LF's policies are to keep the peace only using the least amount of force and you do not resort to assassinations or anything of that sort. But, I wish to join the LF as an assassin," Keiji picked up after his wife's pause and Cagalli's eyes bugged.

A what? Did she hear him correctly? An assassin?

"Assassin?" she echoed, unsure of what she had heard.

"Yes," Keiji lowered his eyes, unable to meet her shocked look, "only temporarily though. My mission would be to assassinate Patrick Zala," he said, "afterwards, I would resign my commission."

"But…" she was at a loss for words.

"I will not associate myself with anyone of the LF nor bear the name of the LF, but I only ask for your blessing to carry out the mission I had been assigned so many years ago since I left OMNI," Keiji continued.

"But…why do you need my permission?"

"Because you are Kira's only living relative. I know you don't like assassins working for you, but please just this once…I want Kira back as much as you do. He's…my son," Keiji whispered the last part.

"M-Mr. Yamato," Cagalli stammered, "it's not that I don't approve of the method of assassination, it's just that…what if Kira sees you trying something like this? He'll be hurt…I'll be hurt…he wouldn't want you or your wife to risk yourselves on his behalf. He loves you both and I think to see the two of you safe, is what he would want right now.

"Please…don't do this…I don't want anyone getting hurt anymore…" she raised a hand to stifle a half-sob, "Athrun's going…you're telling me this…why…why…"

"It's an atonement for the mistakes we've done for the past, Cagalli," Kanoko rested a hand on her shoulder, "wars were never meant to be fought, but if something like this is allowed to continue, then things will spiral out of control."

"I know…" she whispered, "thank you…and you have my blessing…"

"Thank you Cagalli. You are more like your father Uzumi than you think," Keiji looked up and smiled gently at her.

* * *

"So what are we doing here Yzak?" Dearka groused for at least the fifth time in the span of the two hours they had been sitting in an open-aired restaurant on Februarius City, waiting for their contact.

"Waiting," Yzak admired his own patience at trying to teach his friend the points of gathering intelligence and infiltration.

"How long is this supposed to take?" the blond-haired man asked.

"As long as it should. Stop being so impatient Dearka," he replied before he tilted the sunglasses that he wore to see a beautiful looking woman walking towards them, a shopping bag in her hand. She gave them a jaunty wave.

"Alan! Ivan! What are you doing here?!" the woman approached them and Yzak stood up, smiling at her as he offered her the third seat at the table they were sitting at. Lacus had given them new identities for their preparation to try to find where Patrick Zala was located – she was sure he was somewhere in the PLANTs.

He had the identity of Ivan Yarovich, given that the Joule family did have some Russian blood in them, and Dearka had the name of Alan Kingston, relating to part of his English blood.

"Hello Diana," he greeted in a smooth tone, "have a good time shopping?"

"Very much, thank you," she smiled at him, "I take it you've been waiting for me all this time? I apologize if I was late."

"For you, you're never late," he replied before sitting down next to her, swiping the two identity cards she had discreetly put into her palm for him to take in one fluid motion. He pocked the cards easily and folded his hands together. "So, what did you get us?"

"You? No…these are my own things, though I did find some cute outfits for you dear Ivan," she was their contact. Though she too didn't know where Patrick Zala was, she was a maintenance worker on the PLANTs and would supply them with the necessary outfits and identity cards to slip in and out the many inner workings of PLANT, away from the artificial atmosphere, land, and water and into the metallic bodies of the PLANTs.

Lacus had theorized that it would be better to search for Zala in the inner workings of each PLANT because he wouldn't be able to announce his coup and his money resources would be limited. She also surmised that if he had captured Kira, it would be to further the research of Dr. Ulen Hibiki – which meant that the scientific levels would be not on the surface of the PLANTs, but instead underground.

Yzak had not asked why would Zala capture Kira, and he didn't really want to know, so he had left it at that and started out on the mission with Dearka – who surprisingly had requested a transfer from the _Archangel_ to the Clyne Faction of the LF. He had thought his friend was happy with his Natural girlfriend, Miriallia, but apparently, things weren't as they seemed.

Diana handed over two bags that were colorful to the eye, but deceptive. In them, he knew contained the outfits necessary to the next part of their mission. "I hope you enjoy them."

"Suits?"

"Yes Alan. Next time you bring me to a party, wear them. That last one was a horrid affair. I nearly died of embarrassment," she giggled before getting up, "thanks boys. I'll see you later!"

She took off, walking with an air of confidence, her shopping bags (Yzak suspected they contained real clothing she brought to help her cover), bouncing on her side.

"Yep…she brought us suits. So when's the next party?" Dearka asked.

"Tonight," Yzak replied before picking up the cup of tea that had been in front of him, cooling, and taking a sip.

* * *

Patrick Zala sat in a bare office. It wasn't as spacious as the one where he had been head of the Defense Committee back on PLANT – but it was usable for now. There was a tentative knock on his door and he looked up from the reports his scientists were sending to him about the boy named Kira Yamato.

"Yes?"

The door opened and one of his lieutenants stepped in and saluted, "Sir. We've received reports that the testing of the Exodus System is completely operational. We are ready to begin Phase Two of the Exodus Program."

"You have my permission. Send a task force to keep an eye on the original. We don't want anyone destroying it now would we," he replied.

"Yes sir," the lieutenant snapped a salute once more before stepping out of the office, door hissing close behind him.

Zala let a feral smile appear on his lips for a brief moment before he glanced down at the recent results he had received. It was astounding; the boy named Kira Yamato was absolutely the perfect creation. There was no other like him and he suspected there would never be. He would have to bid his time with this boy, to eventually turn him into his own forged weapon – willing to do anything for him. It had taken him this long to get Kira, but he was still a patient man – after all, the boy should have been his years ago, if that stupid man Keiji Yamato had not screwed up.

Tossing the report aside, he pressed a button on the side of his desk, "Doctor Paiget?"

"Sir?"

"Has his essence transferred yet?"

"Yes sir. He's almost ready to be awakened."

"Good. Send him up when he's ready. The next phase of the plan is about to start."

"As ordered sir," the doctor replied before Zala cut off the comm. He let the feral smile creep across his face once more and stared into the darkness. Everything was going according to plan…and soon…all the Naturals in the world would be wiped off the face of the Earth, leaving in place a new race to start off – a new Coordinator population.

* * *

In another part of the facility where Patrick Zala was, Doctor Paiget, a cold ruthless man who was in his mid-thirties, studied the brainwave readout that was his current patient. It had not been easy getting whatever was left of the essence from Colony Mendel back to here – and he had almost lost it, but thankfully, he was able to salvage at least most of the essence.

He stared at the patient who was laid out on an operating table, completely naked save for a towel draped over his privates for posterity sake. The boy was perfect…except for one thing they couldn't eliminate, a scar that ran down the left side of his face. Slowly, the boy opened his purple eyes and they blinked once, twice, before he sat up, his brown hair matting his face.

"I trust you're feeling better, Griever?" he asked.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_AU_ – Alternate Universe, for those that don't know. I am basing this off of _Entropy Rising_. The other story, _Destiny Falling_, is a sequel to _Entropy Rising_. So this story is an AU of an AU. Weird huh?

_Reviving Dead Characters_ – For those familiar with my _Gundam Wing_ stories, I tend not to kill off major villains until I say so – and so this is why Griever is still alive. The cloning process concerning Griever will be explained and about transfer of essences and stuff – it's a bit based on _Star Wars' Dark Empire_ comics (horrid comics, but useful info).

_Battle__ info_ – I know that my mobile suit battles aren't too accurate as I have made mistakes in weaponry and some stuff. But usually I'm pretty accurate – I guess I'll have to check out the specs on the Gundams and ships again.


	5. Politics

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

**_Previously on Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces…_**

**_"Has his essence transferred yet?"_**

**_"Yes sir. He's almost ready to be awakened."_**

**_"Good. Send him up when he's ready. The next phase of the plan is about to start."_**

**_"As ordered sir," the doctor replied._**

**_

* * *

_**

_Phase Five – Politics_

Kira awoke to find himself sitting in a metallic chair, a bright light shining down upon him. He found that his hands and legs weren't bound and stood up tentatively. The world didn't spin and he didn't feel anything like drugs roaming around his bloodstream. Where was he? He took a few steps forward, squinting to see what was beyond the spotlight that had been shining down upon him.

"Kira Yamato," the sudden booming voice in the room echoed and bounced off the walls, startling him as he backed up suddenly and banged his legs against the edge of the chair he had awoken up in. He didn't know where it was coming from and so looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"Please, sit down. We wouldn't want you to get hurt wandering around, now do we?" the voice said again, but this time the volume was lowered considerably.

Kira decided to ignore what the disembodied voice said and instead, narrowed his eyes, staring up and around, "Why should I? I'm perfectly fine standing."

"Please, sit," suddenly, the disembodied voice was gone and a man suddenly stepped into the spotlight. Kira recoiled a bit, startled. The man was old, just beyond middle aged with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes that looked soft, but he saw just a hint of coldness in them. He watched the old man carefully, one hand gripping the back of the chair as he backed up slightly as he approached.

"Who are you?" he asked cautiously.

"Now," the man clasped his hands together before looking at him, a curious smile on his face, "that is a good question. The real question isn't 'who are you', it's _who are you_? Who decides when is the war to start and when is it to end? Who decides the work hours for everyone? It's not the real question of who are you, but of who you are. Oh, and the name is Richard. Please, sit Kira."

Kira blinked in confusion. What was the man saying? He didn't get it, but he reluctantly sat down on his seat and Richard approached him, kneeling down towards his eye-level.

"Now, do you know what this is?" Richard suddenly whipped out a small white ball. It took him a second to recognize that the man was holding a golf ball.

"It's a golf ball," Kira said in a flat voice, wondering what the man was getting at.

"Yes, yes," Richard smiled gently before getting up and pocketing the golf ball at the same time. "A golf ball. Very good Kira. Now, you must realize how special you are."

"What?" Kira spun around his seat, staring at the man as he paced around.

"You're special Kira. You must have known that since you fought your clone-brother, Nikolai."

"How do you..." Kira half rose from his seat.

"SIT BACK DOWN YOUNG MAN!" Richard suddenly jumped at him and shoved him so forcibly into his seat that it stunned him for a few seconds.

A few seconds of silence ticked by and Richard drew back, a smile on his face, but Kira could tell that it was more forced. He watched the man warily now as he resumed his pacing around him.

"Now, we'll try this again, Kira. You are special because of your clone-brother Nikolai," Richard paused to see if there was any reaction and when Kira refused to give one, he continued, "surely you must have noticed something that happened when you interacted with him."

"No," Kira said shortly, "don't care and don't want to remember it."

"Now, now Kira, don't be so stubborn. As I recall, Nikolai had the ability to teleport somehow, during battle…do you remember something like that?"

_A sudden proximity warning made him spin around and he gasped in surprise as the Liberty appeared behind him. There was no way that a mobile suit could travel that fast, he realized, but just then he was kicked hard in the back and Griever didn't stop there._

"No," he lied.

"Uh-uh, Kira, I sense that you're lying… You know, I don't take kindly to lies," Richard suddenly pulled out a small remote control and pressed one of the buttons on it.

He only had a split second of comprehension when his body suddenly twisted in pain, throwing him to the ground. He screamed as claws of pain raked up and down his back. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like hours before he could breathe again. He involuntarily curled up against the pain, his breath coming in harsh gasps. When he could feel that his body would cooperate, he managed to push himself up on shaky hands and stared up at Richard who had a smile on his face.

"Now, would you care to amend your statement?" he held up the little remote with the buttons on it to emphasize his point.

"Yes," Kira replied, grimacing as he pushed himself back onto the chair before slumping against its back.

"Hmmm? Yes what?"

"Yes…I-I…remember," he tilted his head back as his breathing became steadier and steadier by the minute. A few of his muscles still involuntarily twitched, but they were mostly under control.

"Good, good," Richard was pleased by his cooperation, "oh, just to tell you, we injected little nano-transmitters underneath your skin, quite harmless out of a certain range with this little box, but they're rather painful, nasty little buggers. Please do not make me do that again."

"I don't care," Kira knew that torture methods included pain so he wanted to resist the pain. "Use it…I don't care."

"Now, Kira, you shouldn't say stuff like that," Richard tsked in disappointment, "now. Since you remember what Nikolai did, we will begin to work on that." The man suddenly held out the golf ball once more and he blinked a few times as not to go cross-eyed at how close he was holding the ball to his face. "I want you, to move this," he suddenly held the ball flat on his palm and moved it a bit away from his face.

"What!" Kira was confused.

"Nikolai, as your clone-brother, had a special ability given that he was the Ultimate Coordinator. He was what myth deemed to be an Esper, one who had ESP, extra-sensory powers. Of course there are countless other names, telepath, telekinetic, psionic, call it whatever you want, he had that ability. That is why you, the original, should also have that power.

"Now, move this," he jiggled the golf ball in his palm.

Kira gaped as he processed the information the man was saying. He was a what? But that wasn't possible. Coordinators had enhanced genes, but not enough to drastically and so suddenly be able to move objects!

"Perhaps you did not hear me correctly," Richard suddenly frowned, "move the golf ball."

He pressed a button on the remote and Kira's eyes bugged once more as he felt the pain return. However, this time it felt worst and lasted longer. As soon as the pain was gone, he coughed, clutching his chest as he felt like his lungs were on fire. This time, Richard picked him up from the floor and slammed him back into the chair none too gently, making him cry out once more as he felt his previous bruises being slammed all around.

It was a few minutes later when he had finished his coughing and managed to focus his eyes on Richard. The man didn't look happy and instead held out the golf ball once more.

"Move, this. Now, or else you'll be feeling a bit more pain. And I don't think you want to," the man said.

Kira was at a loss on what to do. How do you move an object with just your mind? He had seen a few movies about people with powers and they didn't even explain anything. Books didn't even say anything about moving objects…how was he supposed to do this?

"I…I don't know…how…" he said, trying to convey to the man that he truly didn't know. He didn't want to feel that pain again. It hurt so badly…

"Not good enough," Richard said and raised the box once more.

"No! Wait! STOP! I don't know, I don't know!" Kira yelled, shrinking back into his seat in reactive fear, trying to prevent him from touching that button.

"Hmmm," Richard smirked before drawing away the golf ball and he sat back on his haunches, "it seems you've learned your lesson, Kira." He got up and started to pace once more, "We will continue this another day…but for now…I think you should get some rest."

He moved so fast that Kira barely had time to react. His left arm was suddenly in his vise-like grip and Kira struggled as he saw that his other hand held a needle of sorts and was going to inject it into him. His fight-or-flee instinct kicked in and he tried to lash out against the hand that was holding him, but Richard dodged all of his attempted blows with relative ease. There was a prick of pain in his arm before Kira saw his world tilt and fade to black.

He slumped down in his seat, unconscious.

* * *

Doctor Madison watched the whole proceeding from an observation room that was above the room where Kira and his trainer were. The boy was learning quickly, she had to admit. Even though they hadn't really gotten him to try to concentrate and move the golf ball, he was adapting well to the pain techniques Richard was putting upon him.

_Oh well, who said a little pain wasn't good for the soul_, she thought as she looked at the readout the nano-transmitters were giving her. They weren't there just for pain, they were also recording every little bit of information about Kira Yamato for further analysis. Next time, after Kira had awakened, they would start this process again and she knew that she had to tell Richard to at least try to make the boy move the golf ball this time. No procrastinating, no matter how much the man felt sorry for the boy.

"Curious, isn't it, how just a little pain can make someone fear," a deep voice nearly startled her from her work and she looked up from her computer screen to see Quinn Misali standing by the window, one hand pressed against it. There was no visible expression on his face as he stared at the unconscious figure of Kira.

"Quinn? I thought you had already left," Madison wondered what was going on.

"Eh…it's not quite that safe right now if I show my face to the outside world. After all, I did betray my comrades in order to bring him here. Plus, Zala still hasn't paid me the other half of my commission yet," Quinn looked at her for a second before turning back to stare at Kira.

"Well, you might want to get back to OMNI Black Ops soon. Zala's almost ready with the second phase of his plan. Then the shipping lanes are gonna be seriously swamped," she warned him.

"I know," Quinn replied, "but I'd rather stay here for now."

"You really don't feel sorry, do you?" Madison prodded.

"We've already had this discussion," the tone of his voice said to drop the subject, but she wasn't a scientist for nothing.

"Quinn, stop it. I know you-"

"You knew me, Madison," Quinn suddenly turned angry eyes on her; "you don't know me anymore. I've changed. I'm not the same man I was all those years ago. Not your lover, not yours anymore. I've changed." He suddenly stalked out and the door hissed closed behind him, leaving her all alone in the room once more.

"You haven't changed, Quinn. I hope you can see that before it's too late," she whispered before turning back to the computer screen.

* * *

Nikolai Mercus, or codenamed Griever, was very patient when he was hunting his prey. It was what made him so good at his job – assassination. The last time he had a job, he had botched it up because he wasn't careful. Now, though, there was hardly anyone to protect his prey. Those that would were either on their own missions or were captured, like Kira for example.

He knew of his failure and so had changed his appearance a bit. The scientists that had given him his new body gave him longer hair, so now he held it back in a short ponytail. It wasn't much of a change, but it was enough so that he wouldn't stick out so much.

Now as he walked the corridors of December City, dressed in the typical red uniform of an elite ZAFT pilot. No one questioned his presence, as it was mostly ZAFT that walked through these parts. He made his way towards the offices of the members of the Supreme Council. Two guards were on patrol at the security checkpoint and he handed his ID over to them, saluting them.

They scanned the ID wordlessly and handed it back to him as he cleared before one waved him across the security scanner. The machine beeped an all clear, and it was true, he wasn't holding any weapons on him. There were more than one way to assassinate someone; weapons sometimes were just a liability.

"You're cleared," the guard waved him off and he saluted once more before heading towards a particular office. He knew his prey was currently in a Supreme Council meeting, but he was patient for now. The meeting would go as planned, and then he would kill his prey.

As the door to his prey's office opened, the secretary looked up and Nikolai immediately raised a hand and blanked her mind before moving quickly into the inner office. As soon as the door to the inner office closed, he released the hold he had on the secretary's mind and looked around. The room was dimmed, but not dark and shadows stretched along the walls. It was a perfect cover…

He went to the desk and rifled through a few drawers, finally finding what he was looking for. Drawing out a sharpened knife, he pocketed in the folds of his borrowed uniform and closed the drawer. Each one of the Council members kept a personal weapon on them when they were in their offices – it was more for ceremony then for protection, but he didn't doubt that all of it was real.

He glanced at his watch and a feral smile appeared on the corner of his lips. There was at least half an hour before he knew the Councilor would be making their way back. Plenty of time. He decided to lounge about in one of the couches in the Councilor's office and fell into a light doze.

* * *

Eileen Canaver rubbed her forehead in an effort to relieve the tension headache that was there. She had told the Council all that they needed to know about Patrick Zala's return and she had specifically told them not to spread this to the public, but now, they were demanding that heads roll for such a cover-up. It was her job to mediate and to lead the council, but right now, she felt her control slipping.

She had Ezalia looking up pharmaceutical information as she knew a lot about the cloning process and what had happened to Rau Le Creuset and would probably be able to figure out certain medications that Patrick Zala needed to take in order to keep up appearances. She could see that there was a deep history that involved Ezalia and her family with this and though she didn't pry, she knew that the fiery white-haired woman would do everything in her power to prevent something like what happened 2 years ago from happening again.

However, that was not really the case for Aaron. She glanced at the seats that were beyond the Council table, reserved for guests who reported directly to them or for members of the press that were allowed in certain meetings. Aaron sat in one of those seats, watching the proceedings with a neutral expression on his face.

She had thought he would return to Earth with Lacus who was leaving in a few days, to help soothe tensions and to continue the peace effort, but he seemed reluctant to return and she couldn't blame him. After all, the Earth demanded that he be convicted even though he was innocent, and PLANT didn't want to do such a thing. Orb had no jurisdiction over them and so it was better, Eileen mused, that Amalfi stay here. He could act as a liaison for Lacus and her.

"I still don't understand, why didn't you tell us this sooner?" a Council member's voice rose above the rest and Eileen recognized it as Orson White, one of the few radicals left in the Council after the war. He was from Sextilius City and was one of the geniuses at particle physics. There had been suspicions from when Patrick Zala ruled the Supreme Council that he had White give the basics of what a concentrated microwave pulse would do the human body, after all, it was part of particle physics, and the man had agreed.

But there was a hint of fear in the man's voice that made Eileen doubt her original thought. It seemed that White was afraid of something, afraid that if Patrick Zala came back, things would get ugly for him. She didn't know why…and made a mental note to have her aides look through his files later to figure out what was going on.

"We couldn't have known Councilor White. This information was revealed after the Talon leader Sven Anderson was killed. Only then did we find out who he was really working for," Tad Elsman explained patiently.

"Then why haven't you done anything?" White shot back.

"We are doing something. The LF has given their support to help search-"

"We don't need the Liberation Forces' help! We can assign ZAFT to search for Zala. Foreign support would only lead the Earth to gain influence over our colonies! We don't need that!" Louise Leitner representing the Junius PLANTs shot back. She too had been considered a radical when Zala ruled.

"That's isolationist theory," Tad replied, narrowing his eyes, "we don't need that. What we need now is support. Besides, there might be traitors among ZAFT-"

"Do you care so little for our military? I guess that is why your son joined the Liberation Forces – because he loves those insufferable Naturals!" Leitner snarled.

"That was low," Tad's face grew stormy and Eileen knew that things were going to get out of hand if she didn't step in now.

"Stop it, both of you," she stood up from her seat and slammed her palms down on the oval table. "There will be no petty words in this Council. We've already sent ZAFT personnel to search for the whereabouts of Zala. Ezalia has kindly lent her knowledge of aerospace engineering to help us search for the clone. If Zala was like how he was two years ago, then the first thing we figured was that he would try to rebuild something similar to Genesis – which he did as evident by that demonstration you all saw a day ago."

"What if it's an Earth thing?"

"The LF has been sent out to investigate the ruins of Junius Seven. It's sufficient to say that it is a space bound thing and that Zala has been alive quite some time in order to build something like that."

"Space!"

"But where did he get the funds!"

"What if it's a copycat?"

Eileen shook her head, "We don't think that it's a copycat, and I've already sent Captain Andrew Bartfield with the Eternal to support the LF."

"But that man is a part of the LF already! How do we know he's not working directly for Earth? For all we know, Orb is already friends with the Earth. Look what happened in the war two years ago, they were building mobile suits for OMNI!"

"But so did we, Councilor," Eileen stared at White with hardened eyes, "except we built them with far more devastating consequences then we could ever imagine."

"We were at war. And those suits were stolen by pilots who were part of OMNI," White shot back.

Eileen bit her lip from contradicting the man. She couldn't say anymore without revealing who were the true pilots of the Justice and Freedom. "We're not at war now…"

"We will be if you keep us in this direction," Orson shot back before he stood up in his seat and stared at everyone around him, "I move for a vote of no confidence towards Councilor Canaver."

Silence reigned in the room and everyone stared with shocked eyes at Orson who was smiling a bit cheekily at her. Eileen could feel her breath leave her as she realized the implications of what he was saying. She couldn't lose her spot now…not with so much riding at stake. What the hell was going on? What was White playing at? She stared at the man with narrowed eyes…it couldn't be, could it? But if no one second the motion then it would die and she would still be safe. She had the trust of the Council. They had chosen her after Zala's tyrannical rule because she was the voice of reason… No one would dare second the vote, would they?

"I…second the motion," Louise Leitner looked very reluctant as she raised her hand before putting it down, "I apologize Eileen, but…I feel that you've served your tenure as Supreme Council Chair through us in this peace. But I feel that there might be the approaching storm of war, and I believe we need a stronger leader. I'm truly sorry…"

Eileen couldn't do anything except give a weak nod as the Council members slowly got up from their seats and walked out of the room. She barely heard Ezalia whisper in her ear before she left, Amalfi and Tad following her. All she could think about was the mind-numbing shock of her world crumbling all around her.

* * *

It was at least two hours after the meeting ended that Eileen was able to pull herself together and made the slow agonizing walk back to her office. She knew she looked haggard and even the guards were giving her curious looks until someone began whispering that she was under a vote of no confidence. Then their expressions turned sympathetic and even a few of them told her that if they were on the council they would completely support her.

She stepped into the outer part of her office, finding her secretary still there. "Melanie? Shouldn't you be having a dinner date right now with Krista?" she asked, looking at her, "or was it James?" She had constantly teased her secretary on her bisexual preferences, but her secretary took it all in stride.

"It's with James, but since I found out what happened…you know," Melanie looked a bit uncomfortable, "I decided that I should stay here to support you and to help you through this."

"Oh," Eileen gave her a tired smile, "thank you Melanie…but you should go. I'll be fine. I just need some time alone to think."

"Are you sure, Madam Councilor?" she looked happy at the prospect of having her date with James, but also worried for her.

"Yes. Go…" Eileen placed her folders down on top of a cabinet before going over to the closet and grabbing Melanie's coat before tossing it at her, "have fun tonight. We'll begin anew tomorrow for a support system."

"All right," Melanie put on her coat, "thank you Madam Councilor. Don't worry, we won't let Councilor White defeat you. You're too good for our people and for PLANT to be voted out."

"Thank you for your support," she waved her secretary good-bye as she stepped out of the door.

She was left alone in her office and tidied up the place a bit before deciding to go into her inner office. She needed some brandy to calm her nerves.

She opened the door to her inner office, letting some of the light spill in from the outer one and took a few steps in. Suddenly she felt her arms being pinned behind her in a painful grip and another hand clamped down on her mouth to prevent her from screaming, but she did anyways and it came out muffled.

"You took your sweet time, Madam Councilor," a male voice said and her eyes darted around, trying to see who her captor was. She could feel the sharp point of her knife that she kept in her drawer poking her in the back and she tried to kick out with her feet, but he locked his legs around hers to prevent her from doing so.

She tried screaming again, but he pressed down harder and it hurt her jaw.

"Uh-uh, Ms. Canaver. Too bad you won't be seeing the results of your vote of no confidence," the voice breathed into her ear, "but Patrick Zala sends his regards."

Her eyes bugged as she realized that he was an assassin and she was going to die. There was no one to stop her killer… The last thought she had was that she hoped Lacus and the others would continue her work before she felt a brief flash of pain on her throat, then all was black.

* * *

Nikolai released Eileen's body as soon as he slashed her throat, the liquid feeling of her blood running down a part of his left arm. She thumped to the ground unceremoniously as a pool of blood began to form beneath her slashed throat. Flicking the blood off of the knife he had took out of her desk, he wiped the blade clean on a part of her clothes before sticking it inside his uniform. He didn't bother to wear gloves as he knew PLANT would never be able to match his fingerprints. He wasn't registered anywhere. True they might find a connection between him and Kira Yamato as he was a clone, but since Kira had gone missing, nothing would be able to prevent it.

He stared down at her lifeless form, no hints of regret in his mind. She was just another job he had been ordered to complete. She was one of the obstacles in his Master's way of completing his goal. To eliminate her would pave the way for Zala to regain control of the Supreme Council and ultimately PLANT.

Now, since she was dead, the Supreme Council, even with their vote of no confidence, would have to nominate someone to temporarily fill her position before elections were held again. This would enable Zala to become a candidate for that position. But before any of that could happen, he would have to eliminate three more targets for him.

And his next one would have to be soon, before she left to head back to Earth.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

And the plot thickens. Btw, there will be no SEED: Destiny characters in this fic. This is all based on Gundam SEED.


	6. Sortie

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

**_Previously on Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces…_**

**_"Nikolai, as your clone-brother, had a special ability given that he was the Ultimate Coordinator. He was what myth deemed to be an Esper, one who had ESP, extra-sensory powers. Of course there are countless other names, telepath, telekinetic, psionic, call it whatever you want, he had that ability. That is why you, the original, should also have that power._**

**_"Now, move this," he jiggled the golf ball in his palm._**

**_Kira gaped as he processed the information the man was saying. He was a what? But that wasn't possible. Coordinators had enhanced genes, but not enough to drastically and so suddenly be able to move objects!_**

**_"Perhaps you did not hear me correctly," Richard suddenly frowned, "move the golf ball."_**

**_Eileen bit her lip from contradicting the man. She couldn't say anymore without revealing who were the true pilots of the Justice and Freedom. "We're not at war now…"_**

**_"We will be if you keep us in this direction," Orson shot back before he stood up in his seat and stared at everyone around him, "I move for a vote of no confidence towards Councilor Canaver."_**

**_Her eyes bugged as she realized that he was an assassin and she was going to die. There was no one to stop her killer… The last thought she had was that she hoped Lacus and the others would continue her work before she felt a brief flash of pain on her throat, then all was black._**

**_Nikolai released Eileen's body as soon as he slashed her throat, the liquid feeling of her blood running down a part of his left arm. She thumped to the ground unceremoniously as a pool of blood began to form beneath her slashed throat. Flicking the blood off of the knife he had took out of her desk, he wiped the blade clean on a part of her clothes before sticking it inside his uniform._**

**_Now, since she was dead, the Supreme Council, even with their vote of no confidence, would have to nominate someone to temporarily fill her position before elections were held again. This would enable Zala to become a candidate for that position. But before any of that could happen, he would have to eliminate three more targets for him._**

**_And his next one would have to be soon, before she left to head back to Earth._**

**_

* * *

_**

_Phase Six – Sortie_

Athrun took a sip from the drink pouch in his hand, letting his mouth chew on the straw for a moment before taking the drink out and sighing. They were just a few hours from the remnants of Junius Seven, Captain Ramius being extra careful around the debris belt since there were a lot more ships that drifted into the belt since the war two years ago.

He stared out at the blue Earth, a part of him wishing he was back on Earth, back in Orb.

_"Athrun!"__ Cagalli's voice made him turn around to see her running towards him as he got down from Justice after moving it into the __Archangel__. She was still dressed in her uniform, probably having come from a meeting of sorts. He caught her as she stopped in front of him, breathing a bit heavily from running._

_"Cagalli," he greeted, "I thought you were at a meeting?"_

_"Yeah, but I got out. Made up some excuse to see the __Archangel__ off," she smiled, "sometimes you have to cut meetings." She suddenly looked down at her feet, "So you're actually leaving…"_

_"Yeah…" Athrun pursed his lips for a second before making a quick decision. He had gotten the item a few hours ago, debating whether or not to give it to her…but decided that he didn't know when he would see her next, so no regrets. "Um…I have something to give to you…"_

_"A present?"__ Cagalli blushed, "it's not another Haro is it?"_

_Athrun raised an eyebrow, "You don't like my Haros?"_

_She turned even redder, "No, no, it's just that I have a lot and…_

_He laughed before releasing her and stepped back, pulling the small item out of the pocket of his LF jacket. He took a deep breath before getting down on one knee. Looking up at Cagalli's shocked eyes he smiled and opened the small box – in it was a glittering pink stone ring. "Cagalli Yula Attha, will you marry me?"_

_He barely noticed that the Murdoch had put a video feed through to the CIC of the ship or that Erica and the others including Kisaka had peeked around to watch them. All he was focused on was Cagalli who had started to cry._

_She was shaking a bit as she nodded, "Yes…"_

_That one word made his heart flutter and jump as a part of him realized that she had accepted his proposal. He fumbled a bit getting the ring out before slipping it onto her right ring finger before getting up. She stared at her hand for a moment before leaping into his arms, nearly knocking him over as he embraced her tightly._

_"I love you Athrun Zala," she whispered in his ear._

_"I love you too, Cagalli," he replied before kissing her on the lips._

_When they broke apart a few minutes later, they finally noticed the cheering and applause that ran throughout the ship and into the port. Athrun felt himself turning red from all of the attention and even Cagalli looked embarrassed. The only sobering thought was that if Kira was here…_

Athrun snapped out of his musings as he heard voices coming into the dining hall. He looked as three pilots walked in, chatting to themselves. One of them noticed him and immediately shut up before saluting him, the other two following suit.

"Lieutenant Commander Zala, sir," the one who had first noticed him greeted, "I apologize for intruding."

"No apologies," Athrun smiled and waved away her apology, "Flight Officer..."

"Ami Dena, sir," the pilot grinned, before raking a hand through her short dark green hair, "pilot of the new Murasame Gundam."

"Matthew Tanim," the pilot next to her, with a shock of purple hair to his head and cool blue eyes, "pilot of Astray Blue."

"Orion Barton, pilot of Astray Orange," the teen with dirty blond hair and brown eyes said before a huge grin lit up his face, "I've read your military record sir, back when you were a part of ZAFT and of the Le Creuset Team. I'm PLANT born-"

"You don't need to tell him your life story Barton," Tanim shut the jabbering teen up with a whack to the back of his head.

"Apologies, sir," Ami glared at the two before bowing to Athrun.

"It's all right," Athrun nodded.

"Um, sir, a question or word of advice…what's going to happen? The other Astray pilots are afraid, and well…so were we," Ami shuffled her feet a bit.

He knew what she was really asking and decided to answer in the best possible terms, "You've joined up with the LF, and so defending the peace should be your priority. Everything we're doing right now is for those that we care about – and to protect them."

Ami looked like she was going to say something, but then warning alarms started to blare, making all of them look up at the blinking red light. "All hands to battle stations! Incoming mobile suits!"

Athrun took one look at the Astray pilots before they followed him down to the hanger bay's locker room. There, they changed quickly into flightsuits and helmets before running out into the giant hanger bay, each to their own mobile suit.

"Lieutenant Commander Zala!" Murdoch called to him as he arrived to the lift to take him up to Justice's cockpit. He turned to see the head mechanic running towards him. The rank he held within the LF was for him to be able to command units of mobile suits. He had originally declined the rank, but Murrue insisted and said that it would give confidence to those he would command.

"Murdoch?" he asked, watching as the first of the six Astrays the _Archangel_ had launched.

"Before we launched, Princess Cagalli gave me this to give to you. I didn't expect we'd head into battle so soon," he grinned sheepishly as he placed a small package in his hand, "good luck."

"Thanks," Athrun replied before Murdoch ran back to a group of mechanics, shouting orders. He took the lift up to the cockpit of the Justice and hopped in, lowering the seat before closing the hatch. Deciding to open the package later, he put it in a secure spot underneath his cockpit seat and flipped on a variety of switches to power up his Gundam.

As soon as Justice finished powering up, he stepped onto the launching platform. The launch sign was activated and he spoke into the comm. "Athrun Zala, taking off!"

Throttling forward, he shot out of the _Archangel__'s_ hanger bay and space greeted him along with the remnants of the Debris Belt. Glancing at his tactical display, there were at least two squadrons of mobile suits, which meant at least 24. They were probably more guarding the main weaponry, but it looked like he was right in his assessment of his father's plans for building a Genesis-like system on Junius Seven. Swift hot anger rose up as he stared at the enemy mobile suits, a mix of both ZAFT and OMNI built, flying towards them. They were desecrating the graveyard that belonged to so many in PLANT and his father, no, Patrick – Athrun refused to call that clone his father – had the gall to do such a thing!

"Sir, your orders?" Ami's head suddenly popped up on a small comm. window and he saw the Murasame flying next to him, behind them, all the Astray models the Archangel was able to hold.

A part of him wished that they had called another ship to help them, but there was no time.

"Take half of your Astrays and flank from the left," he flipped a channel to Orion, "Orion, I want you to back up the _Archangel_."

"But sir!" Orion protested.

"No buts," Athrun cut him off, "our objective is to destroy the Genesis-look alike. No heroics."

"Understood," Orion looked disappointed, but obeyed his orders.

"Athrun," Miri's face appeared, "Captain Ramius is going to support from behind. We'll pinpoint the core of the Genesis before relaying the information to you. Just keep the mobile suits off of us."

"Understood," shutting off the comm. he let himself go into seed-mode, noting with a certain irony that only roughly a week since the battle at Colony Mendel and seeing Kira going into seed-mode so easily…

A brief thought flitted through his mind – were there any detrimental side effects from going into seed-mode? He knew its purpose was to help him enhance his battle senses, but was there anything else with seed-mode?

He wasn't really used to commanding mobile suits, so hopefully the Astray pilots understood his vague directions. He was more used to working as a team, relaying advice and backing each other up. But the Astrays, though built based on Strike's model, were still not up to par with the firepower and armor of the Gundams. The only other Gundam out here was the Murasame and Athrun didn't know if he could trust Ami to back him up since he hadn't work with her before.

Targeting the nearest enemy mobile suits, he accelerated and fired his beam rifle, hitting each of the suits on a precise mark, making them explode. He knew that only weeks ago he had promised Cagalli that he wouldn't necessarily kill anyone on the battlefield, but he was a soldier and nothing could erase what a soldier learned. He wasn't like Kira who only disabled or incapacitated his enemies, he was trained to kill…and in this right, he had to destroy the enemy.

Flying forward, he twisted out of the path of a few wayward debris from the belt and fired twice, destroying two more mobile suits. He frowned as he noticed that the suits that were guarding the Genesis-like system were a ragtag group, almost like they were fighting the Talon's fleet. Was the Talon truly a front, or was all of this some kind of coordinated effort? If it was, then at least they got rid of one head of what looked like the Talon and Patrick Zala's doings.

He plowed on, firing his beam rifle until it clicked its energy output to empty and tossed it aside, activating a homing beacon so he would be able to pick it up after the battle and drew out his double beamed saber. He landed on a large chunk of what used to be a Earth Alliance battleship and three GINNs landed beside him before drawing out their sabers. Parrying the first blow, he ducked and kicked one off the platform before peppering the suit with bullets from his auxiliary machine guns on his head. He twisted around and sliced the second one in half before skewering the last one.

Hopping from his mini platform, he continued on and noticed to his left and right the Astrays doing fine. Below him, he could see the Murasame Gundam carving a nice warpath through the mobile suits that had challenged her.

"Athrun," Miri's face suddenly popped up on the screen again, "we've pinpointed the location of the Genesis system on Junius Seven. Uploading the data right now." Her face was replaced with scrolling data before a HUD navigation point marked how far he was relative to the entrance to the Genesis.

He keyed the comm. to all friendlies and forward them the data before comm. Ami who had just finished up a wave of enemy mobile suits, "Ami. You take your Astrays and hit them from below. I'll take them from the top with Matthew."

"Roger that," she replied.

"Matthew," he keyed in the comm. to the head of the Blue Astray squad that was on his right.

"Sir?" the purple haired pilot asked.

"We'll hit them from the top," he ordered.

"Aye sir, but aren't you worried about the desecration of the graves?"

Athrun frowned and swallowed past a small lump that had worked its way up his throat. His mother's grave was there…along with the millions of citizens who had died after OMNI blew up the peaceful PLANT. "By planting Genesis there, Patrick Zala has already desecrated the graves of those who died. I'm sure that the people who died there would not want a weapon of mass destruction on top of them."

"Roger that sir," Matthew dipped his head slightly, "apologies."

"Let's get them," Athrun waved away his apology before throttling forward. Matthew's Astrays fell in a triangular pattern behind him and he noticed that where there were once three Astrays, only Matthew and another pilot was left. A quick count of Ami's group told him that she was down to only a single Astray following her. Only Orion's group with two more Astrays was the only group left intact.

He weaved his way through the debris, slashing down the mobile suits that got in his way, before his visual screen showed him what looked like a giant microwave dish pointed in the direction of the Earth. Guarding it were at least two squadrons of enemy suits and they started towards them, weapons firing.

Just as suddenly, Ami's group blew a hole through the platform the microwave dish was on, and flew through, cutting the squadrons of enemy suits in half. Simutaneously the _Archangel_ fired its Gottfrieds, wiping out some of the stray suits that had tried to escape from their pincher attack.

Running a targeting data over the dish, he quickly typed in the data that he remembered from his father's notes and his targeting recticle beeped a red as it pinpointed the main control room. "Captain Ramius," he keyed the comm. before sending the information towards the Archangel, "the control room is deep within Junius Seven. I'm taking Dena and Tanim in to see if we can sabotage the core to find out why it was built here. If we fail, these are the coordinates to destroy the Genesis with the Archangel's Lohengrins."

"Roger, we'll mop up out here," Ramius replied before shutting the link.

Athrun switched channels and both Ami and Matthew's heads popped up on his left screen, "Ami, Matthew, we're going in. There won't be that much gravity so we'll have to use jet packs."

"Roger," the two replied before he switched to Orion's channel, "Orion, you're in command of the suits out here to clean up. Stay on this channel to receive instructions."

"Yes sir," Orion still looked a bit put-out, stuck with the job of babysitting the other suits and cleaning up the stray enemy suits. Athrun knew that he was going to have a talk with the pilot, or at least with all of the pilots under his command. He couldn't work like this…half guessing and half wondering if they were actually fighting with their full strength and mind.

Shutting off the comm. he headed towards the entrance of the dish's facility when suddenly bursts of beam weaponry burst forth from the entrance, hitting him and making his Gundam rattle a bit. He cursed silently and drew back, bringing his shield to bear and the beams impacted and dispersed harmlessly. He activated one of his beam sabers and shot forward, determined to break through the second line that they hadn't seen in the entrance. He was almost there when a hail of yellow beam weaponry and missiles impacted the entrance, blowing apart all of the suits that were guarding it.

Glancing up he saw a familiar pink-colored ship floating among the debris before Andrew Bartfield's face appeared on his side screen.

"Hey kid," the man greeted with a jaunty wave, "looks like you needed help."

"Captain Bartfield," Athrun was surprised to see the man here, "I thought you were at PLANT with Lacus."

"I was, but we've been sent out to aide you after what happened. After all, we're still part of the LF," Bartfield grinned, "we'll handle it up here. Good luck." The man's face disappeared and Athrun continued, landing just as Ami and Matthew joined him.

He put the Justice on stand-by mode before undoing the safety belt and reached behind him for a portable jetpack, gun and two extra clips which he hooked onto a belt he wrapped around his waist.

He opened the hatch and rose up and stepped out, strapping the pack on his back before leaping off of his Gundam. Floating, he aimed towards the blasted entrance, taking careful note of any signs of survivors or soldiers waiting to ambush them. Landing on the metallic hanger bay, he was joined by Ami and Matthew who had also packed extra rounds for their handguns. Ami, however, was carrying a submachine gun, the Murasame Gundam a bit roomier to fit some extra weaponry. Overhead the silent explosions of a battle continuing above them were just mere flashes of light which quickly dissipated into the vacuum of space.

They entered in the base and Athrun waved Ami forward to take point. Sweeping around, he brought out a small electronic datapad where a layout of the small base of operations was in the remnants of Junius Seven. The control center was located in the former PLANT's control mechanism center…

The three of them flew quickly forward, occasionally stopping to check for any signs of an ambush or resistance before moving on. They were just a few hundred feet away from the entrance to the control center when gunshots rang out. "Scatter!" he cried as he dove towards a wall, hugging it and drawing out his gun, putting the datapad securely on his belt.

He peeked from his corner and shot a few blind shots at their attackers. They had to be down to the last resistance if only now they were encountering people so close to the core. A sudden cry of pain rewarded his blind shots and he saw Ami move out from her hiding place, mowing down a few with her submachine gun before diving towards another cover. As soon as she dove out of the way, Matthew shot out of his cover and fired a few shots, utterly confusing the soldiers who were shooting at them.

More cries of pain rang out before Athrun peeked his head out once more and fired two shots to the lone soldier left, killing him instantly as one bullet pierced his naval, the other his heart.

Silently, Ami stood up and jetted forward before turning around, "Clear!"

"Got your six Lieutenant Commander," Matthew called to him, his gun sweeping around the hall they had come from and towards the other halls.

As he flew to join Ami, he was secretly impressed with the professionalism of the two. They were as good as ZAFT trained. He wondered if either of them were Coordinators. Giving a quick nod to Ami as she pointed her gun straight at the door to the control room, and Athrun hooked up his datapad to a panel that was supposed to open the door. He quickly deciphered the code and the door slid open. Ami immediately fired a few warning shots before he flew in, gun held out.

It was nearly dark in the control room, except for one monitor which was illuminating a part of the room. "Hey, where did everyone go?" Matthew called out as he stepped in to survey the room, "there's no one here."

Athrun ignored the teen's comments and instead went over to the monitor. He pressed a few buttons and a screen popped up on the display. A dreaded pit of ice began to form in his stomach and he recognized the sequence. There was also another display and he brought that forward and the ice in his stomach crystallized. This wasn't the only Genesis lying around…there was another one and it was back at Colony Mendel.

They hadn't had time to destroy the Colony after Kira was captured…and so they never discovered that there was a weapon of mass destruction lying right beneath them. How could they have been so blind!

He patched a comm. to both Captain Bartfield and Ramius. "We've got a problem. Whoever did this knows what he or she's doing. They've set it up like Jakin Due. Except this time, the Archangel and Eternal can destroy it."

"How much time do we have?"

"Five minutes," Athrun replied, "we're leaving now."

He looked at Ami and Matthew, both who had shocked expressions on their faces at his pronouncement before as one they headed out of the control room and back towards their mobile suits. There was roughly less than a minute left by the time they reached their suits and Athrun quickly strapped himself in before throttling away from the dish. "Captain!" he called, "now!"

Both Ramius and Bartfield fired all of their weaponry at the microwave dish that was starting to glow red, ready to fire, and Athrun was thrown around at the close proximity of the Lohengrins that brushed past him. Alarms began to blare throughout his Gundam, warning him of overheating and he could feel the heat of the massive beam weaponry as it passed by him and struck the Genesis.

He glanced down at his datapad that showed the timer as it clicked down to the last ten seconds; looking up he saw the Genesis engulfed in a huge explosion that shattered the remnants of Junius Seven in half. When the explosion died down, all that was left was a slag of metal that was floating away…

He breathed a sigh of relief before heading back to the _Archangel_. As he flew towards the white ship, he remembered the gift Murdoch had said was from Cagalli and on impulse, reached underneath his chair and pulled out the package. Unwrapping it he saw that it was a small box, not small enough to be a ring box, but small enough. Opening it, he smiled as he saw that it was a four-way keepsake locket in the shape of the necklace he had received from Cagalli all those years ago. Opening it, there were four pictures. One of him, Cagalli, Lacus, and Kira.

A small note fell out and Athrun read it: _Never give up hope Athrun, we will always be there for you. And if one of is lost, we will find them… - Love, Cagalli_. Tears leaked to the corner of his eyes, but they didn't fall as he put both the note and locket in a secure pocket on his flightsuit.

"Justice you're cleared for landing. Captain Ramius wants to meet you in the main briefing room. Something's happened at PLANT," Miri's voice came over, grave and serious.

"What?"

"Supreme Chairwoman Eileen Canaver's been assassinated," Miri replied.

* * *

Athrun was not the last one in the briefing room, but was close to being one the last ones. As soon as Captain Bartfield arrived, Murrue dimmed the lights and turned on the television to one of the major news channels at PLANT which was running a 24-hour broadcast. She put it on mute and addressed all of those gathered.

"They found her a couple of hours ago during the morning hours when her secretary went to go put a few papers in her office. She's been dead for about 10 of those hours," Murrue said in a quiet voice, "there are no leads, and currently ZAFT is withholding some information for us. However, Cagalli has requested that we head to PLANT to help in any way and since Lacus is there, we would be able to coordinate with her in the investigation."

Athrun raised a hand, "Captain, there's also another problem. When we went to the control room on that Genesis, I found information pointing to a second Genesis-type weapon installed somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Colony Mendel," he replied.

He could see Murrue's face freeze up as she weighed the pros and cons. "All right," she started after a long silence, "the _Archangel_ will head to Mendel while the _Eternal_ returns to PLANT to help Lacus. Athrun, I need all information pertaining to the Genesis at Mendel before you are transferred to the _Eternal_. I need you to help Lacus."

"Yes ma'am," Athrun replied.

"We'll convene again in four hours. Good job everyone," Ramius said as the lights were brought up again and the various people in the briefing room stood to walk out, some chattering with others in muted tones, some just with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Athrun, you can transfer the Justice any time you feel like it. We'll be leaving in an hour," Andrew came up to him and clapped him lightly in the shoulder before moving to talk with Murrue.

He stared up at the still-muted newscast which showed the gruesome images of Eileen's mutilated body. How the hell did this happen? And most of all, was it related to what Patrick Zala was doing?

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter was kinda hard to write because for one thing, Athrun would not cooperate. I usually like writing battle chapters, but he didn't want to go to Junius Seven. Ahhh…back to normal stuff. Oh yeah, some of the stuff in here has echoes of SEED: Destiny – heeheh.


	7. Movement

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

**_Previously on Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces…_**

**_Athrun_****_ raised a hand, "Captain, there's also another problem. When we went to the control room on that Genesis, I found information pointing to a second Genesis-type weapon installed somewhere else."_**

**_"Where?"_**

**_"Colony Mendel," he replied._**

**_He could see Murrue's face freeze up as she weighed the pros and cons. "All right," she started after a long silence, "the _Archangel_ will head to Mendel while the _Eternal_ returns to PLANT to help Lacus. Athrun, I need all information pertaining to the Genesis at Mendel before you are transferred to the _Eternal_. I need you to help Lacus."_**

**_"Yes ma'am," Athrun replied._**

**_

* * *

_**

_Phase Seven – Movement_

Cagalli was quite surprised at herself for not falling to pieces at the double dose of bad news. First it was finding out that the LF's strongest ally in PLANT, Eileen Canaver, had been brutally assassinated during the night on PLANT. Second it was finding out that a second Genesis existed beside the one that had been in the debris belt. And it was located in all of the most obvious places – Colony Mendel.

Murrue had immediately called her about this news and she had scrambled to stop her from going straight to the Colony. She didn't want anyone else poking around what she considered her biggest secret. It was bad enough that some people knew that she and Kira were brother and sister, but to find out even more about Mendel…no she wanted to be there personally. But she didn't know the layout and the only other people who did besides Athrun and the commandos that had accompanied Kingfisher that first time, was Kanoko and Ledonil.

Ledonil immediately said that he would go, along with Kanoko, but she wanted to come too. The _Babylon_ would rendezvous with the _Archangel_ along the way and be packed with more of the LF's Astray units. Erica Simmons had volunteered her services to find out where the Genesis was since she had been working on Patrick Zala's notes along with Athrun. Even though she had made the excuse to take some leave of absence from her post, Ledonil had steadfastly refused her to board the _Babylon_ and stated that she was going to stay in Orb to help keep the peace between Earth and PLANT.

She protested until Kanoko reassured her that her secret would never be let out since she was going herself. She promised Cagalli that no one would find out about Kira, her, and the experiments at Colony Mendel. While this didn't reassure her that much, it eased some of the worries in her mind. She trusted Kira's mother…and the woman knew what she was doing.

So she watched the _Babylon_ leave port and head up to space. A part of her yearned so much to return to space and perhaps return to be close to Athrun, but she knew that her duties laid here. She wanted to be in space, to be at PLANT to slip off and search for her brother…

"Princess Cagalli," one of her aides, an older woman, though not by many years, tapped her gently on the shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts as she stared out at the viewport, where the Babylon had launched just half an hour ago.

"Yes Ellie?"

Ellie Statler was not really a beautiful woman. She was a bit homely, but she was a good aide and a shadow bodyguard hand-picked by Ledonil to be part of her security detail while he was gone. "Princess, we should get going. The meeting at the Senate Hall is going to start in about half an hour."

"I know," Cagalli pulled herself away from the window and started walking out of the building and towards the car that would take her to the partially rebuilt Senate Hall. Ellie shadowed her like any faithful aide or bodyguard would do. "Ellie, tell me, what do you think of all of this?"

"Princess, my job isn't to think, but to-"

"I know, but I just want your opinion. I just need someone other than me to think right now," Cagalli interrupted her. As an afterthought, she realized that was a rude comment, but Ellie just gave her a smile before she took on a thoughtful look.

"Well, if this is all Patrick Zala's doing, then he does seem to have inside support. From what is going on right now, he is coordinating things very effectively, which means I think his next move is to send a representative to the Supreme Council to tell them that he is ready to come back to lead them. I believe his inside supporters were the ones who called for Councilor Canaver's vote of no confidence."

"Could they also be in charge of her assassination?"

"Possibly, but it doesn't strike me as the two coordinating. There could be a third force at work. I mean, why would Zala go through all that effort to call for a vote of no confidence and then have her assassinated. It's not good for his support, because it'll turn people sympathetic towards Councilor Canaver's cause," Ellie grinned sheepishly, "I apologize Princess. Before I transferred to your security detail, I had worked as an investigator for the Orb Union's police force."

"No, no," Cagalli was impressed as the two of them got into the car and drove towards the Senate Hall, "I'm very impressed with your ability to reason. It's a lot better than those politicians that can't say a damn thing."

"Thank you," Ellie blushed and looked shyly down at her folded hands before murmuring a question that Cagalli didn't quite catch.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"I was wondering…" Ellie turned a bit redder, "about that ring on your right ring finger…"

"Oh, this," Cagalli lifted up her hand slightly for Ellie to get a better look, "it's not widely known, but yeah…I'm engaged."

"To that young man with blue hair?" Ellie blinked, "what's the lucky guy's name?"

Cagalli knew that as a bodyguard Ellie was privy to any information in her private life, but she felt a bit uncomfortable announcing that she was engaged to Athrun; though a majority of the crew of the Archangel knew about it, she also knew that they wouldn't tell anyone until an official announcement was made.

"Oh!" Ellie seemed to notice her discomfort, "I'm sorry Princess for intruding like that. I shouldn't have been so forward. Forgive me."

"It's okay," Cagalli shook her head before leaning against the leather chairs, staring out of the window, "I…just miss him, that's all. I don't like staying here where I can be out there doing some good."

"Princess…what you're doing is good. You're helping to keep the peace," Ellie said gravely, "don't give up hope on that."

She looked at the brown haired woman, "Thanks Ellie."

"You're welcome Princess. Anytime."

* * *

Keiji Yamato had once considered himself to be pretty well versed in military tactics and defining what war was about, until he had received a special mission order to assassinate a young scientist on the run with a child that didn't belong to her. That was when he realized not everything the military did was sound. Not every branch of the military was as righteous as the claimed to be in the recruitment posters. And not all Coordinators or Naturals were enemies of each other.

That last part he knew long ago when he had been part of the Special Ops of OMNI. When he met Kanoko Kamiya he had originally thought she was carrying illegal clones of babies or had stolen a Coordinator's child, but in reality she had stolen a child, but this child was very special. He made the hard decision to resign from the military and help Kanoko hide the child. By marrying her and giving his last name to the two of them, he brought them into OMNI's protective custody for those who had been in the military and had families.

It was also then that he found out about the conspiracy surrounding the child and his newlywedded wife. He knew that as long as he was on Earth, where OMNI was at its strongest, he wouldn't be safe so they traveled to the Moon first before going to Heliopolis. He had vowed years ago never to abandon them and even till now, he wasn't going to go back on his promise.

He was determined to find Kira on his own. He wanted his son back and nothing in the world or the universe was going to stop him.

Kira was special to him, not only as a son, but he was his light and path to redemption from all those dark years he was in OMNI Special Ops. He didn't want to lose that part of his humanity anymore, but he knew that he would have to go back to the thin line between assassin and killer to find his son. If Patrick Zala was really alive, then he would be treading that dangerous line trying to find him.

He gripped the brief case that contained a few changes of clothes along with two different types of guns with ammo for whatever he might run into. He was dressed in a casual outfit, khakis and a gray shirt. Over that he wore a non-descript jacket and black gloves. Using the many names he had while he was in OMNI, he had gotten past PLANT security, even though he was a Natural, and was currently walking along one of Martius Eight's city streets, staring up at the cloudy sky and artificial sunlight.

The PLANT's random weather system had said that there was a chance of rain, but so far the clouds didn't hang too low. He turned a corner and spotted the building one of his contacts told him had been having a few unusual dealings involving certain products shipped. Those products he knew Patrick Zala liked a lot, after all, when he was in Special Ops, one always thoroughly researched the background of the employer and target in order to get a sense of where their dynamics were.

He walked casually towards the building before quietly disappearing into it. Blank white walls greeted him along with a ratty looking counter. The place looked very run-down and shabby. A disheveled man who was watching the television set with a slight look of mild interest was behind the counter. Keiji approached the counter and the man looked up at him briefly before looking back at his program which was showing a music video of Lacus Clyne's latest single "Fields of Hope".

Keiji grinned inwardly as he watched the images roll by. He was proud of his son and glad that Kira had found a soul-mate like Lacus. She was such a strong person yet so gentle at the same time, much like his son. Turning his mind back to his personal mission he casually poked the man in the shoulder with two fingers.

"Hey buddy, can I get some service around here?"

"What service?" the man grumbled, glaring up at him with blank beady black eyes. "Go service yourself."

Keiji tilted his head and let a slightly wolfish grin appear on his face, "I'm sorry. I don't think you've heard me." He suddenly grabbed a fistful of the man's shirt and pulled him sharply towards him so that they were nose to nose. "Where's the shipment?"

"I don't know any shipment-"

"Not good enough," he shook the man once for emphasis, "Mr. Tamiro sent me here to check on it. If I don't see the shipment then you can kiss your skinny ass goodbye." With a flick of his wrist, he dropped his suitcase next to his foot and drew out a handgun that had inhabited his pocket before pointing the barrel underneath the man's chin. "Where are the goods?" he asked in a quiet tone.

"I-In the b-back…" the man stammered, eyes flickering towards the door. Keiji stared at the door and immediately sensed that something wasn't right.

His instinct was correct as suddenly the door that he had entered in and the door that the man had been looking at flew open with people firing guns at him. He immediately used the man he had in his hands as a shield, his eyes narrowed dispassionately as the man screamed as bullets peppered him, killing him instantly.

Keiji fired back, taking out two men who had been stationed at the door he had came in before he dropped down to one knee, one hand still holding the lifeless corpse of the dead man, and fired at another, his bullet taking out one of the gunmen's kneecap and the man fell down screaming Bloody Mary. He ended the man's screams with a bullet to the head before firing another shot at the last gunman's neck, severing his spine and killing him instantly. The firing stop and the place was filled with a harsh silence.

Someone had to have heard that, Keiji realized. Even though the building was in one of the alleyways off from the main road, police would be here. He was glad he kept his gloves on, it meant no fingerprints whatsoever. Dropping his body shield, he quickly headed towards the backdoor and went down a few flights of stairs to what looked like the underground works of the PLANT. As he went down the stairs, a part of him was disgusted at his own actions. How he so easily fell back into the role of an assassin…was so weak to fall like that?

Some sour bile rose of his throat, but he kept it in and swallowed it back down. He had never told Kanoko or Kira of his true duties when he was in Special Ops…they were jobs like these and it disgusted him at times. But was it all for Kira's sake? Or was it for something else?

Was it revenge? Was it because Quinn Misali stole his son from right underneath his nose and while he had the power to stop him, he was frozen in his own inability to become who he truly was?

An assassin who had been originally hired to kill the baby known as Kira Hibiki?

Those thoughts haunted him as he worked his way deeper into the maze of the interior of PLANT, headed towards the internal shipment lines to hopefully lead him to his son.

* * *

Instead of maintenance people, they were now dock workers for the inner workings of PLANT. With Diana's help she was able to get them promoted quickly to work in the Martius PLANTs where there was a better lead on the possible whereabouts of Patrick Zala.

Yzak was still in the guise of Ivan Yarovich and Dearka as Alan Kingston as they worked they way around. Like the other dock workers, they had heard about Canaver's assassination through the news and it had chilled him to the core. It also made him think. Was this another ploy by Zala to throw them off his trail? He wondered why would the man have his flunkies in the Council call a vote of no-confidence and then suddenly just assassinate the Supreme Councilor. It didn't bode well for his support…was there another faction playing them too?

He considered the facts, but he didn't have any other evidence to support any conclusions. Instead, he and Dearka decided to concentrate on finding Zala before anything else could happen. The others had resources to possibly track down this phantom second faction. He had sent a message to Lacus over a day ago mentioning the possibility of a second faction and didn't expect a reply.

"Hey Yarovich! Get moving! We don't have all day!" a gruff voice suddenly called to him and he glanced up at the foreman who was waving at him to finish his job. He nodded to the foreman before activating the forklift he was using and placed a few boxes that came in with the latest shipments from other PLANTs.

He and Dearka had the ability to disappear and each time they did to go onto their next "job" a cipher was inserted into the records and erased any traces that they were at their job. Those that saw them and worked with them were given psych evaluations and told that they worked with phantoms of their own imaginations. ZAFT was good at hiding tracks. It had been a week since they went undercover and there was still little to no leads.

Yzak was quite surprised at how fast things were progressing, even without leads, and it worried him. He parked the forklift near a pile of boxes just as Dearka came up to him, holding two cards in his hand. He recognized it as their cue to go to a different cover. Which meant someone had a lead or a feeler at least. He nodded before glancing around and then hopping off of the forklift.

"Where's the next stop?" he asked. He had taken his best friend on a crash course in espionage and so far, Dearka was a fast learner. He had taken to the whole espionage thing like a duck to water.

"We're supposed to meet someone down a few levels. He's going to introduce us to our third party member to help us on our next cover."

"Which is?"

"Apparently we're going to be assistants to a scientist," Dearka smirked, but dropped it as soon as he saw the frown on Yzak's face.

"Scientist? What kind?"

"I dunno, the message didn't say. You think we're getting close?"

"Yeah, but it's too fast…something isn't right here," Yzak murmured before he stopped talking as a few dock workers walked past them, chatting animatedly. As soon as they were past he looked at his best friend, "we'll go in a few hours. Stop by the armory. I have a feeling someone's trying to set us up, or we're walking into a trap."

"All right," Dearka smiled grimly before handing him his new identity. Yzak glanced down at his new name and nearly balked at the name.

"Sergei Romanov!" he whispered.

"Don't laugh. Whoever's creating our names is having a little too much fun with history. Mine's not better. See, Phillip Churchill."

Yzak made a noise of disgust before pocketing his new identity. Though he didn't know too much of Earth's history, as that was all shrouded in what was known as the Dark History, he did know that the Romanovs was the last ruling czar family in what was formerly known as Russia now a part of the Eurasian Federation. Churchill was the last name of one of Prime Ministers of an island nation named England, now a part of the Atlantic Federation.

"We'll meet again in three hours. Be ready," he said before walking away casually as not to attract any unwanted attention. This whole thing started to reek of a huge problem and Yzak felt like he was just many of the puppets being pulled on a makeshift stage. Except he didn't know the script.

He suspected only one person probably knew of the whole script – Patrick Zala. And that made him a very dangerous force to contend with.

* * *

Dr. Madison stared aimlessly at the cameras that were placed in the subject known as Kira Yamato's room. So far, after the results of the first test there was hardly any movement and she couldn't blame the teenager. No, not teenager, adult. As a Coordinator, Kira had been considered an adult from the age of 12 and on because of the knowledge he had. But inwardly, his maturity level like so many Coordinators was both that of a child and of an adult – adolescent and trying to find his own niche in life.

She briefly wondered why did the human species try to create Coordinators? It was such a sad life in her opinion. They had so much knowledge yet they were able to fight at ages where Naturals were just hitting puberty and learning the ins and outs of being a teenager. Hormonal levels were just on the rise and yet Coordinators didn't seem to have that hormonal sense. They were mature about their love and it was just so confusing.

Madison shook her head before rubbing her eyes to blink sleep from them. She glanced at the cameras again before letting her mind wander once more, seeing there was no activity coming from the room.

After Richard had knocked Kira out they put sedatives in his IV line to keep him quiet and also fed him a few experimental drugs to see if that would be able to enhance his latent abilities. In about a few hours they would be waking him up to test him again to see if the drugs worked.

Madison had created these drugs and had used them on three convicts who were on Death Row. Except they didn't react well with the drug. They were Naturals after all and the results she had received from then head of Blue Cosmos Murata Azrael told her that the drugs initially did well, but that it would have to be refined. Unfortunately Azrael and the test subjects died two years ago during the war, leaving her with only the results.

She had went to Patrick Zala to see if he could help her and he did. He had discreetly taken a few Coordinators and Naturals in the prisons for her to experiment on. The medication still had an adverse effect on Naturals but in the Coordinators she had tested it on, it enhanced their abilities ten-fold and they had entered a heightened state of mind that made them seem devoid and blank. She had asked them afterwards what made them go into such a state and they told her that they had seen a seed explode in their minds.

When she told her results to Zala he had the most peculiar expression on his face, as if he was a child who had discovered a shop full of candy. A few days later he approached her and told her to start researching the experimented Coordinators DNA strands for any abnormalities. It was there she had discovered that the drug she had given to the Coordinators enhanced their DNA for a short while before the strand released the changes and repaired itself to its original state.

This had given her an idea. What if she was able to inject the drug into a woman's eggs, whether Natural or Coordinator, and if the woman had a baby, what would happen?

But so far she never had a chance to do so. She had tried to mate a few Coordinators together, but they rebelled and she was left with dead bodies. So as with any prisoner that came her way, she tested out the drug on them. Kira was no exception and since he was the original genetic material used to create Nikolai Mercus she was eager to see the results of the experimentation.

Though she felt something akin to pity for Kira, she was first and foremost a scientist and then a woman. Science was her passion and she loved it. Besides, a little experimentation didn't hurt the boy…

She had read through the notes Zala had given to her about Kira and while she knew she didn't have all of the information, she knew that some of that resided in the person that stole Kira from Dr. Hibiki. If only she could meet Dr. Kanoko Kamiya…what interesting conversations would they have. After reading the notes, she had wished she was on Hibiki's team, but sadly, she was still in medical school…and it made her wonder why Dr. Kamiya stole Kira away. Was it for her own experiments? That had to be it…

"Kira, Kira, Kira…you're lucky to have all of this attention on you, but you do you want it?" she whispered to the unmoving image in the bed before she sighed and stretched.

Only a few more hours and then they would be able to get the real experiments started.

* * *

**Notes:**

That last part is what happens when you talk about the Holocaust in your history class for your history minor mixed with Ethics class about Genetic Engineering and you're writing a paper on it. Heheheheheh…plot twists abound!


	8. Experiments

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Eight – Experiments_

It was a different awareness, as if everything in the room was blurry but suddenly became clear. Kira slowly opened his eyes and stared up at the blank ceiling of the bed he was on. The last thing he remembered was a gruff middle-aged man named Richard trying to force him to move a golf ball that he couldn't move. He slowly blinked his eyes, his senses feeling as if the world was just a little bit off in a way – like he was moving too fast and the world was moving so slowly. Getting up, he glanced at the IV line attached to him and pulled it out, barely flinching from the pain in his wrist. He wondered how long had he been out and judging from the fact that they had attached a line to him, it meant probably over a day or so.

Swinging his legs to the side, he got up and promptly grabbed onto to the bed post as the world spun dizzily around him. He saw spots dance around his eyes and closed them trying to alleviate the dizziness. It passed soon enough and he opened his eyes once more. What the hell was that, he wondered as he took a tentative step forward. It felt safe and he walked around his cell, still feeling a bit off.

As soon as he felt as normal as possible he looked up and around, wondering what day or time it was. The room was the same one he had been put into and just as he glanced at the door, it hissed open and a very recognizable woman stood there. Her name popped into Kira's head. Dr. Madison Francis…the woman who had talked philosophy with him before knocking him out in an unfair advantage.

"Hello Kira," she stepped in, holding a clipboard and dressed in her perpetual white lab coat. "I'm glad you're awake."

"What do you want now?" he asked, tensing as he expected her to attack him like she did last time.

"Kira, that's not polite you know," Madison stared at him with an almost serene expression.

"What; the last time you knocked me out and try to have me move some damn golf ball with my mind," he said in a flat tone, not in the mood for any of her games. A headache had started to form and it was getting stronger by the second. He resisted the urge to rub his forehead to try to ease the pain, not wanting the doctor to see any discomforts he had.

"Well, it is in your genes, Kira," Madison said in an annoyingly simple voice that he found to be just a bit irritating. It was as if she was talking down to a petulant child. "You are the Ultimate Coordinator and it would be beneficial if you can learn how to use your gifts to the full advantage."

"What so I can be your weapon?"

"No, no, we don't need you to be a weapon. That's what Nikolai's been created for," Madison blinked lazily before a smile appeared on her face.

Kira blinked at the meaning of her words. Griever's name had been Nikolai Mercus…it couldn't be the same Nikolai could it? But looking at her expression ice began to form in his stomach and he realized that Patrick Zala had been behind the Talon. All of the pieces of the puzzle for the last few weeks were falling into place. He should have figured it out when he saw the man and knew that the man was obsessed with finding him…of course he would set a trap up for him at Mendel. Talon was just a front for his own schemes and it would seem that he had set up this elaborate trap just to get him.

"Ah, I see you've figured it out," Madison tilted her head slightly; "it took you long enough. I would have figured you would have been brighter in deducing Patrick's plans. Oh well, not all Coordinators are created the same…I should have expected that." She made a few notes in her clipboard. "Well, would you like to know what the next test is? You've passed your first one."

"That was a test?" Kira asked.

"Of course," she gave him a lazy smile again, "remember, you're not a prisoner here. It's not torture and all those vids that you've seen."

"Yeah, I'm just an experiment," he said bitterly, the headache growing stronger. He finally rubbed his forehead, trying to massage his temples to ease the pain, but it didn't seem to help.

"Oh don't say that," she practically cooed at him, "you're not an experiment."

Kira snapped his head towards her, seething with anger, "Would you cut the bullshit!" A part of him was shocked at his own words. Where did this anger come from? He was so annoyed and angry at the woman who was standing in front of him, patronizing him. "Why are you doing this to me? Is it just because I am the Ultimate Coordinator-"

"Ah, you've finally acknowledged that you are the Ultimate Coordinator," she interrupted him. "That's good."

"Shut up," Kira glared at her, "I'm a regular Coordinator. I am not the Ultimate Coordinator. That was just something made up by Rau Le Creuset." He could feel something within him stir in the anger that was swirling around him. It called to him and reached out for him to take and hold within his mental grasp. A part of him was curious yet afraid of this...foreign thing that was calling to him. What was it?

"You forget. Rau is the clone of Anton LaFlaga. LaFlaga knew a lot about the workings of Dr. Hibiki's labs and so does Patrick. You are the Ultimate Coordinator, whether or not you acknowledge it is not my problem," Madison suddenly snapped her fingers and Kira looked up with narrowed eyes to see at least three men entering the room before standing around Madison. He noticed that they weren't, rather they were facing him.

"Kira," Madison gestured to the men, "please accompany them. They won't hurt you." The men started to walk forward and Kira backed away slowly. The only place he wanted to go was back to his family, back to Orb. That sudden thought crystallized in him and the anger that had been simmering in him exploded.

It wasn't seed-mode, it was something different, but Kira touched the foreign thing in his mind and it filled him with a totally new awareness. He could see fiber-like things all around the air, more so around the people and pushed at the fiber of the three men that were moving towards him.

His eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly saw the men fly back into the wall, crashing hard before all of the slumped forward, knocked out. Scared, he retreated from the presence, and blinked his eyes before collapsing boneless onto the floor, eyes rooted to the three unconscious men. He barely noticed Madison's shocked expression; her clipboard had fallen to the floor.

What the hell was that! What did he do? A groan of pain from one of the men startled him out of his funk and he glanced wildly between Madison and the three men, his mouth opening and closing with words he couldn't quite vocalize at the moment.

The doctor was staring at him with narrowed eyes before she suddenly spun on her heel and left the room in a hurry. Before the door closed, six others came in and dragged the bodies of the unconscious men out of the room. He was left alone in the room, still staring at the spots where the men were blasted back by an unseen force.

It was at least ten minutes before Kira stared down at his hands, curling them into fists. What did he do?

* * *

Madison didn't go anywhere as soon as she was out of the room. All she did was lean against the wall by the door as six other people went in and grabbed the three men that were sent to get Kira. She had not expected this at all…and the results scared her. She leaned against the wall, clutching her coat as she tried to steady her breathing. The medication wasn't supposed to react like that! Not on all of the Coordinators they've tested it on. What was Kira so special that it made the medication react that way? What happened?

There were variables and whatnot, but as soon as the technicians deemed it safe to return to his room, she knew she had to wait. But one thing she knew in that single moment that she saw the boy narrow his eyes. There was a primal fury within that boy that made him dangerous.

And it promised vengeance against those that wronged him.

* * *

Patrick Zala laced his fingers together as he set them on the table, pleased with what was going on for the moment. A mid-sized vid screen was showing the news from different PLANT broadcast networks along with a few Earth ones. Though he hated what the Naturals were broadcasting it was still beneficial for him to see what the enemy was reporting to gather information.

Canaver was dead and he was pleased with Nikolai's progress. This meant that Orson and Louise would be able to move without any fear. All the chess pieces were moving according to plans. He had expected the Junius 7 Genesis to fall, but that was evidence enough for his next step.

But for Colony Mendel. No, that one would have to be kept…until he could completely set up his next one. The LF would find that there would be more forces there than expected. He also knew that Ledonil Kisaka and Dr. Kanoko Kamiya would be there, which is also why he sent Quinn Misali there to finish the second part of his mission along with causing some tension within the LF.

His sources also said that Ezalia Joule had started a cipher to find out which drugs he used, but he was too smart for that and had redirected the cipher to give false information. He also found out that she had sent her son to try to find him. That woman knew how to use her resources and it was a pity that she and her whole family couldn't see what the true ideal was.

The hand had been dealt and it was time for the pieces to continue their journeys.

* * *

Lacus Clyne sat in the office she was given when she visited the Supreme Council to give them updates of proceedings in the Senate down in Orb. It wasn't a spacious office, but it wasn't small either. She barely had any of her personal belongings there, a majority of them either at her mansion that she had inherited from her father or in Orb in the apartment she had in the city.

She was only supposed to be here for a few days, continuing on her duties as a liaison between the PLANTs and the Earth Senate, but now with Eileen's death and the Supreme Council in a riotous state, she had to stay and help calm the people down. The radical members like Orson White and Louise Leitner were up in arms – blaming the Earth for assassinating Eileen. They wanted a swift retribution by ZAFT to the Ptolomaeus Base on the Moon – rebuilt after the war.

A few of the moderates on the Council were also leaning towards swift military action, but they were also wondering who was going to be the new Supreme Councilor. It had been two days since Eileen's death and the Council needed an emergency leader. Lacus knew Zala would try to take advantage of the confusion and insert himself in here, but she had also cautioned the Councilors that mentioning anything about Zala to the press would be detrimental. Then there would be mass panic in the PLANTs and things would get worst. They couldn't afford mass panic at the moment.

Those on the Earth who were enemies of the PLANTs and Coordinators wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation and perhaps launch an attack of their own. Even though Blue Cosmos was but a shadow of its former glory, they were still quite a force to contend with if given the chance. She and Amalfi were constantly in the emergency sessions, trying to calm the war hawks down, but it wasn't easy. Right now was one of her rare times in her own office.

Whoever had assassinated Eileen was very good and she knew that she was a potential target. She had always been since she made herself known during the last few days of the war two years ago. But she refused bodyguards – she didn't want to hinder herself like her father did during his time as a part of the Supreme Councilor and as a Councilor after Patrick Zala won the election.

A rare frown appeared on her face as she thought about the other crisis on hand. She had told Ezalia and Tad to continue their work while she and Amalfi try to calm the rest of the Council down. More than ever she wished Kira was here…even though she knew she was his anchor, more than he'll ever know, he was her anchor for her. He had such a calming presence, and he was one of the gentlest people she ever knew. _Kira…where are you?_ She silently wondered as she stared out of the window to her office. It was a fading artificial sunset right now…and the brilliant red-orange rays filled the skies in a beautiful rainbow color.

"Haro! Genki! Lacus!" Pink-chan suddenly chirped from where it had been entertaining itself by rolling back and forth. It bounced up and down for a bit before attempting to flying with its flaps.

The pink colored Haro flew up to her desk where it promptly rolled in front of her and its red eyes blinked a bit. "Myta! Myta! Whatever!" he bit off in a rude tone and Lacus had to smile at her Haro's antics. Of all the Haros Athrun had built for her, this one seemed to develop a quirky personality, much like how Tori did too.

"How did we get ourselves in this mess, Pink-chan?" she tapped the Haro on top of its head as it rolled back and forth, occasionally blatting out an electronic squeak.

"I don't want any part of it!" her Haro replied rolling in a circle.

"I know you don't," she laughed lightly before leaning back in her chair and heaving a slightly deep sigh. The latest message from Cagalli said that the _Eternal_ was going to arrive soon and Athrun was with them while the _Babylon_ and _Archangel_ were headed to Mendel to hunt for another one of the mini-Genesis systems Zala apparently built in secret. One thing that had surprised her was that Cagalli had decided to stay in Orb to try to calm things down in the Senate. She would have thought, given the impulsiveness of Kira's twin sister, the Princess would have gone either to Mendel or to the PLANTs to help.

It meant that Cagalli had matured quickly and knew what her responsibilities were. Though Lacus would have loved to have Cagalli here as a friend and a person to talk to, she admired her ability to restrain herself from doing anything rash. Or…she could have something planned for the Senate that was equally rash…with Cagalli, one really never knew.

"Miss Lacus?" the speaker on the side of her desk blared out.

"Yes?" she didn't bother looking at the speaker and instead poked her Haro playfully.

"You asked me to tell you when the _Eternal_ has docked? The ship has docked in Docking Bay 1138," the secretary outside replied back through the speaker.

"Thank you," there was a click of the speaker being shut off and Lacus stared out of the window, the sunset gone, replaced by a false twilight fading into night. Captain Bartfield and Athrun were coming to her office with the latest news. She was going to give them an update on their findings of the whereabouts of Zala.

"Myta myta! Haro haro!" Pink-chan suddenly bounced from her hand and rolled to the ground.

She frowned, puzzled as to what had startled the robotic ball before she sensed something, no, some-_one_ else in the room. Just as suddenly, the lights to her office shut off, leaving her in near-darkness. Only the false twilight and the outside lights of the rest of the city filtered in. She stood up slowly, sensing the other person was close.

"You were the one who assassinated Eileen Canaver, weren't you?" she asked in a firm tone, surprised that she didn't feel an inch of fear in her. She felt calm, collected, and at peace.

"Perhaps," the voice that came back was in front of her and she squinted slightly to see someone leaning against the wall, his face covered in shadows. From the dim light she had, she could tell that he had sneaked in here wearing a ZAFT uniform, and it was a bit rumpled, which meant he came from the ducts, bypassing her secretary.

His voice was oddly familiar, but had a deeper inflection…almost as if it was…

"Kira?" she ventured a guess.

"Close, but not quite," the person in the shadows laughed lightly, a bit maliciously.

"Then you must be Nikolai Mercus," she said in an even tone, staring at the person.

"I prefer the name Griever, Miss Lacus Clyne," the person pushed himself off the wall and stepped into the dim light, his purple eyes glittering with malice.

Lacus was stunned at the resemblance between Griever and Kira. She had never met the assassin before and had only heard descriptions from Kira, Cagalli, and Athrun. And while they said Griever looked a lot like Kira, with the exception of a scar running down his left side, a part of her still didn't really believe it – until now. He looked exactly like Kira, except his hair was longer and he had a wicked looking scar running down the left side of his face. His eyes were Kira's, mouth, face…everything screamed of Kira, except the expression on his face.

They were most certainly not Kira's.

His eyes held such hatred, such disgust; one had to wonder where they came from. But she also saw something in there that no one else had seen before. There was pain…and something else. Something that made her realize while Griever was born, or cloned, a killer, he was also born like his namesake.

"You're not surprised," Griever raised an eyebrow, "Patrick told me you were a lot like your father, resilient and one not to flinch from anything."

"Why should I be surprised?" Lacus steeled herself. "You killed Eileen. It's not really a far cry as to whom you'll go after. Patrick has many enemies and he would not hesitate to eliminate them one by one. He would go after the big ones first. Eileen, myself, Yuri Amalfi…the list will go on until the people realize they must support Zala and pledge obedience to his every will, lest they be killed by your hand."

"Very perceptive, Miss Clyne," Griever gave her a wolfish smile. "It's a pity you won't be able to see your theory come true."

"Why not? Will you do your job now?" Lacus tilted her head.

"Are you waiting for Athrun Zala to rescue you? Like how he rescued Princess Cagalli?"

"Yes," Lacus replied bluntly, "but I am also curious as to the hatred in your eyes. Why do you hate those of us who are trying to build the peace?"

"Because it is a false peace," Griever snapped back, irritated.

"Then is what Patrick Zala creating a false peace also?"

"He created me to do my job and I will finish it," Griever suddenly shot forward so quickly that Lacus only had time to blink before she was held in a painful headlock, the cold blade of a knife on her throat. "Don't even think of questioning Patrick's works."

"Is that all you are?" Lacus drew in a shallow breath, as he pressed the knife a bit deeper against her throat. It wasn't enough to draw blood yet, but she started to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. She knew she had to act fast in order to stop Griever…

But to do what? What did she want to do? It was then that she realized missed Kira so much that seeing this look-alike had triggered in her the will to try to at least change Griever. To turn him to her side…to break him away from Zala, because…because…

Because somehow, she knew Griever would be a valuable asset.

And because in ways, she wanted to save a part of Kira that was Griever.

"You _are_ human," she forced out, trying to draw another breath, but it was getting harder.

"So?"

"Why are you hesitating now?" she whispered.

"What makes you think I'm hesitating?" he whispered in her ear, making the hairs near tickle with sensitivity.

"Because like your namesake," she swallowed and felt a bit of pain where the blade punctured her skin, "you grieve for those that you've killed."

"There you have it wrong, Miss Clyne," he tightening his grip, "I don't grieve."

"What the…" a new voice suddenly came from the door before the lights were flipped on. There was a gasp of surprise before Athrun's voice rang clear with a shout, "LACUS!"

* * *

"LACUS!"

Athrun froze a few steps into Lacus' office, as he saw the last person he would ever expect to see again. He thought he had killed him – he was sure of it. He was shot just less than a week ago on Colony Mendel. His hand automatically went to his right side to pull out a hand gun he usually carried with him, but he realized he had left it at the security checkpoint. No weapons were allowed in the Councilors offices.

"Don't even think of moving Athrun Zala or you Andrew Bartfield," Griever narrowed his eyes at them, drawing Lacus closer to him, "I will kill her."

"You were supposed to be dead," Athrun curled a fist angrily, cursing silently for not having a weapon on him. He sensed Bartfield behind him, who had also froze in place by the assassin's orders.

"New body, new life," Griever shrugged smiling.

"Nikolai, you don't have to do this," Lacus suddenly spoke up in a soft whisper, but it carried through the whole room, "you can stop your mission right now. You don't have to follow Patrick's orders."

"I will-"

"_He's been unkind to you, hasn't he_?" the change in Lacus' voice wasn't dramatic, but Athrun blinked in surprise as he saw her eyes change. They looked like…seed-mode… But how could that be? He thought only he and Kira had that ability.

_"I suspected that she had manipulated some of the genes that was used to create the experiments, and tried to alter my own genes. He wanted me to know that there was a chance, a slim possibility that I could be an ultimate Coordinator and wanted me to take extra care of what I did and how I presented myself to the public."_

Her words from that fateful night he had found out about Kira's lineage and what he was…he remembered that Lacus had told him that she too had her genes altered. And this was the result – she was also able to go into seed-mode, but…somehow, her seed-mode wasn't battlefield induced.

It was different.

If he thought Lacus going into seed-mode was surprising, watching Griever suddenly release her and step back on unsteady legs shocked him further. But while his mind was numb, his body reacted in a different manner. He suddenly charged at Griever and tackled him to the ground. A part of him was mildly surprise that the assassin didn't even retaliate and glancing at Griever's face, the reason became clear.

Griever was crying.

Silent tears fell down his face as his eyes were wide open, staring at something beyond him. His mouth was opened in a wordless scream and it looked like he was lost in his own nightmare. Athrun was taken aback at the sheer terror and pain on the assassin's face that he didn't even see Bartfield approaching along with a few security guards who immediately hauled Griever up and led him away in handcuffs. His face was still contorted with pain and he didn't even respond to anything the guards were saying to him.

"Myta! I don't want any part of it!" the electronic blat of Pink-chan snapped him out of his funk and he turned to see Lacus staring at the door where the guards had led Griever out.

"Lacus?" he reached out to her and she suddenly turned to him. His next words died on his lips as he saw the open pain in her eyes. A part of him realized that she was bleeding from where Griever cut a bit into her neck, but that part was all but lost for now as she stared at him.

"Athrun," she stared at him, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes, "what if…Kira…"

Athrun felt his heart seize up at the meaning of her words. If Griever was like that…what would happen to Kira now that he was in Zala's hands? He reached out and embraced her, trying to comfort and ease her fears.

"He won't…Kira won't become like Griever," he whispered to her, "You'll see…he won't falter." It was all he could do for now…

He stared out into the night skies of the PLANT. Somewhere in the PLANTs, Kira was there. _Kira, we'll find you and rescue you. Until then, hang on…_


	9. Ambushed

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Nine – Ambushed_

Yzak snapped off the safety of his gun and held it up, the flashlight held on top of the barrel as he swept the area. Dearka covered his back, pointing his gun and flashlight behind them just in case someone decided to ambush them here in the deep metallic confines of the PLANTs. This was the heart and blood vessels of the PLANTs, or at least this particular PLANT – Martius Eight.

This was actually his first time into the core of the PLANTs, but he had studied the layout and memorized it like the back of his hand, just in case anything went wrong. He and Dearka were supposed to meet up with their contact and a new member of their group. As far as he was concerned, both their contact and the new member could go to hell – he didn't trust anyone on a mission like this, except for his best friend, Dearka.

He turned a corner and crept forward, eyes narrowed. They were almost to the meeting place and it seemed no one was there.

"You sure this is the right place?" he whispered back to the blond-haired man.

"Positive," Dearka replied, "the map and coordinates say we're at the right spot."

"Then how come-"

"Fancy meeting you here," a deep voice suddenly startled him and he pointed his gun at the shadows as someone emerged into the dimming florescent lights that blanketed the whole area.

Yzak admired his own skill at keep his face passive as he saw who it was. He had never expected him to come here, but then again…he was formerly of OMNI and was Black Ops, so it was kind of fitting to meet the man here and to have at least some back-up. But…he had thought Keiji Yamato gave up the military life. This had to be a personal vendetta, and sometimes that meant trouble with the people he usually worked with. He seriously hoped the man would keep his personal issue with Patrick Zala locked tight, or else things would get messy once they were on the inside.

"Mister-"

Yzak roughly jabbed Dearka in the stomach to silence him, realizing that he hadn't had any formal training. Who knew what enemies might be listening in on their seemingly innocent conversation?

"And you are?"

"Watashi wa Mouri Takeru desu," Keiji introduced himself in flawless Japanese before switching over to the common language of both the PLANTs and Earth, "I can say for a fact that I didn't expect to run into you two here. Diana told me that you were going to be shopping upside. You decide to take a trip into the sewers?"

"Of course," Yzak snorted, recognizing the code words, "there's always something more interesting down here than up there."

"Yeah, I would expect that. How goes the dock business?"

"Same old, same old," Dearka finally picked up on their bantering, "it's just a hazard, so we're sneaking out to kill some time."

"Won't you be missed?"

"Nah," an easy-going grin lit up the blond-haired man's face, "they've got our tracks covered. You wanna help us?"

"That's what I'm here for. Though I don't think I'm that good at rummaging through the sludge that's down here."

"No one's good at rummaging through the sludge that's here," a new voice spoke up and they all turned to see a young man step out, dressed in a loose fitting flightsuit which was covered by a white lab coat.

Immediately, Yzak tensed and pointed his gun at the newcomer along with Dearka and Keiji. "Who are you?" he demanded in a sharp voice.

"Whoa, whoa…no need for the guns," the young man said, "sheesh…I'm Fitz Maedo, one of Doctor Pageter's assistants."

"That doesn't mean squat boy. What's your purpose," Keiji stepped up, pointing a gun straight at the young man's face and Yzak watched as the man blinked, going cross-eyed at the sight of the barrel of the gun pointed at his nose.

"Run through the gauntlet and give your tour of the newest facility. We have a lot to show you and I think you'll find everything to your satisfaction before you return to your normal jobs," the man said the code words all in one breath.

"Dear god, he's a newbie isn't he?" Dearka muttered none-too-loudly.

Yzak agreed silently. Whoever this kid was, he was most definitely their contact, but…he was also a newbie at this whole infiltrating/spying business. He lowered his gun fractionally, keeping his finger just near the trigger. He still didn't trust the whole scenario and judging by the others, neither did they. There was still something fishy about all of this…and it wasn't the faint odor permeating through the metallic cavern. Things were moving too fast.

"Um…can you please put the guns down? I…dunno if this is normal, but-"

A sudden gunshot rang out, making Yzak duck and look around by instinct as to where the bullet might have came from. There was a stuttering gasp from Fitz Maedo and he turned around just in time to see the young assistant fall to the ground, a bullet hole in hit middle of his head, blood pouring out of it.

"Holy…" Dearka started before footsteps made all of them turn towards one end of the hall, guns drawn and pointed with steady grips.

"Don't shoot! I'm an ally!" a girl came out, holding what looked like a sniper rifle, hands raised. She extended her arm out and dropped the rifle to show that she was disarming herself, but Yzak still didn't trust her.

"Who the hell are you?" Keiji asked in a cold voice, a voice that the white-haired man had never heard him use before. He realized that he had dropped the father-like persona and exchanged it for one that he used back in his OMNI Black-Ops days.

"Riley Onoko, your real contact," the teenaged girl said, "this man here was a decoy. A spy."

Just as she said the word "spy" a muffled explosion was heard and Riley grinned a bit cheekily, "He was going to lead you guys into a trap. I just disabled that trap."

* * *

Keiji frowned at her words. He still didn't trust this girl that was standing in front her him. Sure she was a crack shot at a sniper rifle, and he assessed that she had to be a Coordinator to be so proficient at sniping people. But…still… He lowered his piece and stepped forward in large strides before grabbing her wrists and lowering them. He twisted her around, ignoring the hiss of pain as he quickly searched her for other weapons.

"Watch it old man," Riley snapped at him, but he ignored her. He drew out a handgun from the back of her belt of the clothing she wore and released her. She stumbled slightly towards Yzak and Dearka who had lowered their pieces, but were still defensive.

"What the hell? Don't you trust me?"

"Military folk don't carry their guns in their waistband. You're liable to shoot off something important," Keiji tossed the gun to Yzak who caught it and pocketed it neatly on his belt.

"I didn't say I was military did I?" Riley turned her fiery green eyes on him and glared at him through her spiky red bangs. "I'm Doctor Madison Francis' assistant."

"How do you know how to use a sniper rifle?" Dearka asked.

"When we assistants were brought in to help with the scientists, we were given basic training. The instructor saw that I had a talent for picking up small details and gave me a sniper rifle to practice with in my spare time. Captain Misali said I was good," Riley grinned slightly, "but still, it was easy fooling them."

"Misali?" Keiji nearly flinched at the mention of his former teammate, but kept it mostly under control, "Quinn Misali?"

"The one and only. He was a big shot back in OMNI Black-Ops and when Patrick Zala recruited him; during his spare time he was here teaching the recruits to defend ourselves in case something happened and the base was discovered."

"You sound like you know a lot about the inside dealings," Yzak commented, "Maybe we should shoot you just to be sure you're not the real spy."

"Fine then," Riley shrugged, "shoot me if you want. But you can't get in without my help. Besides, you're gonna land your mother in a bind if you shoot me, Yzak Joule."

Keiji raised an eyebrow and saw that Yzak had a surprised expression on his face. Inwardly, he was slightly disappointed in the two Coordinators' training for infiltration missions. He would have expected someone like Yzak not to balk at his given name or even show any signs of recognition, but his first assessment of the white-haired young man was wrong.

"You think I'm Yzak Joule?"

Okay…maybe he was wrong about the fiery white-haired man.

"Why not? You have white hair and that scar," Riley frowned.

"Anyone can look like Yzak Joule. All you have to do is find his file in ZAFT and then replicate the image using make-up enhancers and whatnot," Yzak replied.

"You're Yzak Joule, or rather you've been given the name of Sergei Romanov and you are Phillip Churchill, Dearka Elsman. And you," Riley turned around to face him, "Takeru Mouri I presume?"

"You presume correctly young lady," Keiji replied neutrally.

"Then I should tell you that the last time I saw your son, he was doing well, but they would be starting the experiments soon, if not already."

Keiji felt his heart seize up and skip a few beats at the indirect mention of Kira. Experimentation? The deep seeded anger he had tried to hold in check behind his mental barriers started to crack. How dare Zala touch his son! How dare he use him for experiments! That boy had enough to deal with and now… He hadn't realized his anger was visible until the muscles in his right hand started to hurt from being curled too tightly. He forcibly relaxed his muscles and took a few deep calming breaths. He reminded himself that he couldn't take any chances on losing his cool. His personal vendetta against Patrick Zala would be secondary to rescuing and finding Kira. Taking out Zala was Yzak and Dearka's job – his priority was to find his son.

"Experiments?" Dearka asked in a neutral voice.

"Yes, don't you know about your friend?" Riley looked at all of them in surprise, "I thought since you guys went to that colony, you would have realized what he was."

"Never mind that," Keiji cut in front of her, waving whatever she was going to say away, "I ask again, how can we trust you?"

"You don't," Riley replied, "You just keep me around until you find what you need then get rid of me. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?"

"We're not that barbaric," Dearka muttered.

"At least one of you is a gentleman," Riley grinned at the blond-haired man who just shrugged. "Anyways, if you really want to see for yourself that I'm telling you the truth about an ambush, just follow me. You can hold me hostage if you want, but it's just around that corner over there." She pointed towards the area she had came from and Keiji gestured for Yzak to go while Dearka covered his back and he kept an eye on the girl.

Yzak crept forward, still as cautious as ever and peeked around the corner before turning back around. "She's right. Three bodies, one of which carried a sniper rifle and two carrying machine guns. They're wearing nearly the same outfit as Maedo over there."

"That still doesn't prove anything," Keiji said as he lowered his rifle, but glared at the girl pointedly, "if you're pulling a fast one, you'll have a bullet through your head before you can even blink."

"I understand," the girl said in a grave voice, "if you'll follow me, someone's bound to come looking soon and I don't want to stay here another minute." She walked past Yzak and picked up a pack that she had left by the bodies before gesturing for them to follow her.

Yzak followed behind her, careful to keep the gun trained on her at all times, though not really at her center mass, but near it so if she made any funny moves, she would have one hell of a wound to deal with. Dearka went after him, covering their sides while Keiji brought up their backs. He still didn't like any of this…there was something off about it. But if Riley was right, then she was their best bet of finding Zala and ultimately, finding Kira.

He knew that the primary objective of Yzak and Dearka's mission was to either capture or kill Patrick Zala, but Keiji didn't really care for that. All he wanted to do was find his son and take him away from Zala's clutches.

* * *

Kira had been lying on his bed for hours now, so long that he had lost track of the time, not that there was any to keep time in the beginning. But he knew he had been lying on his bed for hours and still no one came to his room. In the beginning, he had wondered if they were all afraid of what had happened. He certainly saw the surprised and shocked expression Dr. Madison's face when he lashed out against the three men, and a certain arrogance had grew in him. If they were afraid of him, maybe they would leave him alone.

But as time went on, he began to worry. Why weren't they coming for him? Why did he have the same sharpness as when he did when he first used something in him to lash out? How did he do it? Was it some type of drug? If so, was he going to die from it? Were they just waiting to see if he would keel over?

He was also curious about the power in him. What had Richard said? For him to move the ball? But telekinesis was impossible. It was something out of a science-fiction movie, out of the fantasy and imaginations of those who wanted to make the impossible possible in their own little fantasy world. It wasn't seed-mode that did this, it was something more, something else…

Kira wasn't too sure how to touch the power that he had, but he figured it was probably close to his seed-mode so he decided to look within himself and search for it. But even so, he needed and object to focus on. He looked around and saw near the end of his bed a small table that held a tray and cup. The cup would be his focus. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind to touch the foreign feeling. It was a bit hard to grasp now, but when he had been angry at Dr. Madison, the thing was a lot easier to reach out for.

He managed to hold onto it and suddenly felt something change within him, filling him with a new awareness. Even though his eyes were still closed, he though his hearing sharpened and the fabric of the bed and the clothes he was wearing felt different. It was as if every one of his senses had caught fire and were burning all sorts of information into him. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked.

The wispy fiber-like things floating in the air were back again, except they were a lot fainter than what he had seen the first time. He wanted to reach out with a hand and touch them, but a part of him told him not to and instead told him to reach out mentally. To reach out with his mental image and hand and touch the fiber-like things.

Turning to stare at the cup, he narrowed his eyes curiously as he saw that the wispy tendrils were seemingly grasping onto the cup, yet they were also floating away at the same time. He reached out with his mind and tried to put the fibers that were floating away back towards the cup, before lifting the cup up to patch up the fibers that were floating there. He vaguely realized that he wasn't touching the cup at all and the cup was floating in mid air, held by his own mind.

All he saw was that the fiber-like tendrils were now meshed together and he stared at the cup, still held up by his mind. A thought occurred to him. If the mesh was there, could he do things with it? He remembered that he had touched the fiber-tendrils around the men and they had flown back into the wall like puppets suddenly pulled on their strings. What if he squeezed the mesh he had created?

The suddenly shattering of the glass cup startled him and he immediately retreated from his mind. With the next blink of his eyes, the room was back to normal, the fiber-tendrils gone and the tinkling of shattered glass echoing loudly in the room.

He stared at where his cup was and saw that there wasn't a cup anymore, just glass pieces that littered the tray and the table. Did he actually shatter the cup? But it couldn't be…it was only a thought, nothing more…

Kira suddenly felt very afraid. What was he? What did he do? Why? He was the Ultimate Coordinator…so did it mean that he was able to do things like this! If it meant that, then… Kira pulled his knees to his chest and hugged himself tightly. He wanted to go home, to be oblivious to everything. He didn't want to stay here…

* * *

Quinn Misali frowned to keep the shock from appearing on his face as he stared at the observation cameras that were in Kira's room. Did the boy just do what he thought he did! But that was impossible. He had only seen one person do such a thing and it was more of a teleportation then actual telekinesis. He had thought Griever was the only one who was able to access "special" powers after extensive programming and operations on his brain. But for Kira to do such a thing! Without the aide of any of the medication or operations!

No…

It just…wasn't…human…

It wasn't even Coordinator or Natural…it was…unnatural.

He was suddenly afraid.

Not of Kira. Even if the telekinesis was real and it was Kira doing something like that, it seemed natural for the kid; yet unnatural at the same time. He was afraid for Kira. He was afraid of what would happen to the kid when Zala found out. He was afraid that they would turn a kid like him into some kind of weapon like Griever. To be used as a human bomb.

He had vowed not to care about what happened to him, but he saw something in the security cameras when they were focused on the boy. There was something in his eyes when he was lifting the cup with his mind. It spoke of death and of vengeance against all those who had wronged him. And it was something that he was all too familiar with.

With a power like that, Kira had turned into something that Quinn knew in his heart that he wasn't. In the short time he had known Kira Yamato, he had seen that the boy was a reluctant fighter, but one who would fiercely protect those he loved. There was no love in those eyes when he lifted and shattered the cup.

There was only emptiness.

And for some odd reason, Quinn feared for Kira's life.

That was what the Ultimate Coordinator was.

A killer without remorse. An Arbiter.

Justice without reason.

* * *

A blue hued light lit up Patrick Zala's face as he stared at the news feed through his computer. The most currently report from Dr. Madison was pleasing and he was happy with the results. While he had seen the shocked and stuttering expression on the doctor's face, he had expected something like that to happen to Kira. After all, he had created and ordered the testing of the drugs on both Naturals and Coordinators that he held prison before leaving the results for Murata Azrael to pick up through a little manipulation by his part on Rau Le Creuset.

He knew of Rau's secret dealings with the former head of Blue Cosmos. It was just easier that way, to get rid of the Naturals once and for all. If it weren't for those stupid paranoid Coordinators and of Lacus Clyne and her father's ideals, then Coordinators would be the next generation to become the dominant species of humans there are – and pave way for the rebirth of a greater human race.

He had once respected Siegel Clyne. That was why he had Athrun betrothed to Lacus before all of this mess happened. After all, Lacus' mother told him that her daughter had the possibility of having altered genes in her. Combined with Athrun's genes, their child had the chance to become the Ultimate Coordinator. Of course, this was all after he had thought Kira had went missing from Colony Mendel.

A tap of a button dissolved the news feed and a single communication screen went up. The figure sitting in the chair was in shadow, but Zala knew who he was.

"Greetings Commander Zala. To what do I owe you this pleasure of communication?" the figure spoke slowly, not because like talking to a child, but because he had to. Any faster and the forever wounds he received from the Cyclops System installed at JOSH-A two years ago would rupture. He was the creator of the Cyclops System and one of the most brilliant people in existence. He was also the true head of Blue Cosmos.

"Phase Two has started of our operation, George," Patrick said. "Are your men and women ready?"

"Of course, Commander," the shadow replied.

"Then deploy them," he ordered.

"As you wish Commander. However, I do hope that you keep your word on Genesis and the assassinations. I would hate to resort to drastic measures, Commander Zala," the shadow said in a mildly pleasant voice.

"Canaver is dead. Clyne should be in the next few hours. Junius 7 couldn't be helped."

"Are you so sure, Commander? Do not make the same mistakes you did two years ago," the shadow admonished gently and Patrick curled his lip in disgust.

"Don't think of lecturing me George," he growled, "I can have you eliminated immediately."

"Oh I don't think you can right now, Commander. You see," the shadow spread his hands out, and a bit of skin appeared in the light. The skin of the hand was flaky, red, and there was puss forming all over its pock-marked craters. "I am too valuable at the moment."

Patrick didn't say anything as he watched the shadow's hands retreat back into the darkness.

"You will have your coup, Commander. In less than twenty-four hours, you will be Supreme Councilor once again and the people will love you," the shadow replied before terminating the conversation.

Patrick made a small noise of disgust before tapping a few more buttons. Three different communications screens came up. Two men and one woman appeared, all of them dressed in the white commander's uniform of ZAFT.

"Commander Zala," the three greeted. If any of them were surprised to see him, then they hid it well. They were loyal only to him and to his cause and their fleets under them were loyal to them.

"Being Operation Helio," he said.

"Aye sir," the three replied before their pictures winked out.

A few seconds later, there was a soft knock on the door and the door slid open. Quinn Misali stepped in and saluted to which Zala returned.

"Commander, you requested to see me?" Quinn asked.

Patrick eyed the Natural for a few seconds. Even though his distaste of Naturals was evident, he had to conclude that they were useful, having been predecessors to Coordinators. Some Naturals were just born smart, and some were born skilled – like Quinn. He had faith in the Natural Black Ops soldier, but he was as trustworthy as far as he can thrown him. After the betrayal of Keiji Yamato all those years ago, he had learned not to trust so much in his people. However, Quinn was useful, and he passed his ultimate test of trust when he betrayed those closest to him and brought Kira to him.

"I'm putting you in command of the _Isis_. Your support ships will be the _Heracles_ and _Thoreau_. They are Alliance made ships and you will be deployed to support the Mendel defenses."

"Sir, won't the ZAFT ships stationed there be suspicious?"

"They won't," Zala smiled.

"But sir, we took out most of the defenses when we went after the Talon," Quinn said.

"Yes, you took out the Talon, but you didn't take out the defenses," Patrick replied, still smiling before reaching into a drawer by his desk and pulling out a small object. He slid it across his desk to Quinn who picked it up. "When the Archangel and her support ships arrive, you may talk with them. You will also activate this."

"What is it?" Quinn started at the small object.

"Our agents on board the Archangel will need that to complete their mission," he said.

"Agents!"

Patrick frowned. Was Quinn getting cold feet or having second thoughts about his loyalties? "If you incline to return back to your _friends_, then you'd better do so with a gun in your hand. I think they are willing to shoot your first before asking questions about your betrayal."

That snapped Quinn back into line. "There is no betrayal, Commander," he said in a firm voice, "I was already in your employ sir and continue to do so."

"Good," Patrick replied, "you are dismissed."

"Sir," Quinn saluted and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, he pushed a button and spoke into the comm. system, "Have Dr. Madison report to my office. I want an update on our patient."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry for taking so long. I was a bit distracted with other projects and finals for school. Since I've been out for at least a month, things should start to go smoothly. This chapter comes on the heels of Episode 34 of SEED DESTINY. Good God that was a great episode and even though Shinn Asuka is blacklisted for "killing" Kira, its still good. KIRA! glomps Heh, Kira can't die because he's getting a new Gundam, the Strike Freedom. drools


	10. Interlude

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Ten – Interlude_

Kanoko had to wonder how did she find herself back in this predicament again, but she already knew answer. It was for her son's sake. She sat one of the two communications consoles on board the _Babylon_, near Ledonil who was in the captain's chair, reading something with the utmost of concentration. Next to the _Babylon_ was the _Archangel_, and both ships were making good speed back to Colony Mendel.

She didn't want to see that horrid place again, but she knew she had no choice. She had to protect Kira and Cagalli's secret from prying eyes, even from the eyes of the _Archangel__'s_ Captain Ramius. Word could not get out of the events that happened at Mendel. Nothing. All they had worked for would be for naught if the secret was out. Orb would be destroyed by the secret and then peace would evaporate. The Clyne faction and Lacus' power would cease to exist and everything they had worked so hard for would be destroyed in an instant.

"The Genesis is pretty big, so finding it shouldn't be a problem," Ledonil suddenly spoke from his seat and Kanoko glanced at him to see concern written in his eyes. The former security guard for Dr. Hibiki was quite good at his job and at reading people. She saw the unspoken words in his eyes; _Genesis is big enough that any ground teams sent will be able to bypass what's inside. They will not find the secrets._

She nodded and turned back to her station, still lost in her own thoughts. She briefly wondered how her husband was doing. She didn't want to see Keiji hold a gun again and having him join the infiltration team back on Mendel weeks ago was almost enough to make her cry in anguish. Why did this have to happen? The Talon had been defeated, the colony was supposed to be erased from existence. But now Kira was in Zala's clutches and everything was spiraling out of control.

She knew she had to do something or else she was going to go stir crazy knowing her son was in danger. Did she regret taking Dr. Hibiki's offer all those years ago to work for him, no, she didn't. She had taken the job and had never looked back once. Even now, in the middle of this fiasco, she still didn't look back with regrets.

"Sir, multiple contacts reported!" the sonar officer suddenly shouted from his position.

"Show me," Kisaka commanded and a giant radar screen appeared in front of them and Kanoko was surprised to see so many ZAFT ships at the Colony. How did they get there in such a short time? And worst, did they know of Mendel's secrets! A small ball of ice began to form in her stomach as she stared at the ships.

"Why didn't we get them the last time?" Kisaka wondered out loud.

"Sir, radar indications show that the ZAFT ships only arrived a few hours before us. They're probably here to protect the Genesis System," the sonar officer replied.

"We'll have to take them out," Kanoko heard Kisaka mutter before he brought up a comm. screen to the _Archangel_, "Captain Ramius, we'll have to take out the ships before we can send teams in to find Genesis."

"I know," Murrue replied over the comm., her face was etched with concern, "we'll have to take out the ships fast. We don't know when Zala will fire Genesis again."

"Roger that Captain," Kisaka closed the comm. screen and turned to her. "Sound the alarm. High alert one."

Kanoko nodded as she pressed a button on her station to blare out the general alarm, "High alert one, all personnel to their stations. Repeat, this is a high alert one. All pilots to their mobile suits."

As the alarm continued to blare, she stared out at the colony and little dots that represented the ZAFT ships guarding the colony. She sent up a quick prayer for Keiji and Kira's safety before turning back to her station and concentration on the battle at hand. She knew she wasn't cut out to be in the military, but who else could protect the secrets of Mendel at the moment?

* * *

"The Liberation Forces are handling the Genesis Crisis. What _we_ need to do now is to find out who is the _real_ cause behind all of this!" Cagalli nearly shouted as she slammed a hand on the podium of the Senate Hall, still in the midst of being rebuilt from the deadly bombing, but it was useable and everyone had agreed to keep their meetings here.

"What about the assassinations!" a senator shouted from the middle of the room and murmurings of agreement joined him.

"What of them?" Cagalli replied in a firm tone. She hadn't voiced the knowledge that Patrick Zala was most likely planning the assassinations in case it did start a panic among both the PLANT representatives and Earth Senate.

"Perhaps I can help answer the senator's question, Representative Attha," Yuri Amalfi's calming voice rose above the din and Cagalli stepped back, with a grateful nod. Though there was still an investigation into Amalfi's whereabouts, he had been declared an innocent man by the joint team both PLANT and Earth had put together for the bombing incident.

"We are still compiling information from witnesses who saw Supreme Chairwoman Eileen Canaver moments before her death, but we believe with the evidence so far that the Earth is not responsible for her death," Amalfi started in an even tone. There were slight murmurings of assent but the green-haired man cut them off with his next words, "however, that does not mean the assassin was of Earth origin. We are considering both ZAFT and OMNI to be potential suspects."

"That's preposterous!" one senator suddenly stood up and shouted, "you dare accuse OMNI of actually infiltrating and assassinating your leader!"

"If you'll notice, "Amalfi said in a quiet voice, "I also mentioned ZAFT."

"No doubt you'll look closer into OMNI's secrets than your own militia," the same senator groused and Cagalli imperceptibly shook her head. The Earth senator was almost like Senator Ingriss, who was the most vocal opponent against the PLANTs before her untimely death in the bombing. Cagalli knew that Senator Sacha Padorin was a heavy supporter of Ingriss' policies, but she had hope for Amalfi. After all, it was one bull-headed Russian against another. She had rarely seen Amalfi back down; the only time the Russian Coordinator had backed down was when he was accused of bombing the Senate Hall.

She had to admire his bull-headed spirit, and hoped for the best.

"Senator," Amalfi kept the same quiet tone, but this time there were hints of edginess in it, "may I point out to the records that were given out at the start of this session that more ZAFT officers were arrested in possible connection to Supreme Councilor Canaver's death than OMNI officials?

"We believe that the assassin came from our ranks. I mean no offense with my next words, but there has never been a Natural who has seen the inside of the Council building on Aprilius One. If you care to doubt what I say, Representative Attha here can testify that we have also suspected her people too. After all, she is the epitome of how Coordinators and Naturals can live together."

Cagalli kept her face blank as she noticed a majority of the people in the room stared at her. Amalfi was correct. Before Ledonil had left on the _Babylon_, he had given over a lot of the criminal files who might have connections to PLANT and to the Supreme Council to the investigative team who had traveled to Earth.

Padorin grumbled something under his breath before sitting back down next to the Earth Senate Majority Leader Ivensten. Cagalli watched as Amalfi waited a few more seconds before continuing on.

"We believe the Genesis Crisis and the assassinations are linked together so that either someone or a political faction is attempting to create such chaos as this. They are trying to disrupt the peace between us with these bombings, very much like the Talon did. They want us to go to war with each other again, can't you see that? Do you really want a repeat of failed histories and of bloodshed? We may not like each other," Amalfi said in a pointed tone, "we may even distrust each other, but our intentions are the same, to keep the peace."

"Then are the Talon truly eliminated, Senator or are they still working from behind the scenes?" Senator Gabriel of the PLANTs asked and a few other senators, both Earth and PLANTs vocalized their agreement with his question.

Amalfi turned to her and Cagalli stood up, taking over the podium. "I believe I'm better qualified to answer that question, Senator. My colleague may not know all the answers, but I can say that the Talon leader, Sven Anderson has been killed. Captain Murrue Ramius, the commanding officer of all LF ships reports directly to me and she told me Anderson was shot by one of the LF's own. If the Senators of this body would like to receive copies of her report, my staff would be happy to send copies to each one of you."

Cagalli kept a half-smile on her face. Sometimes she hated talking like a politician, but in the short time she had been on the political scene, she knew what words would calm the people down. There were two different copies of Murrue's report, the official version and the unofficial version which would never see the light of day.

"Even with the elimination of the leader of the Talon," Ivensten stood up from his seat, "could the Talon be related to the Genesis incident and the assassination of Supreme Councilor. It seems to me that terrorist cells don't go down easily. There is the saying that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter."

There was a time where Cagalli would have shot her mouth off with a statement like that, but she held her tongue, marveling at her own ability to do so. She had a few choice words for the senator. The Talon were terrorists, no matter what others thought. They had bombed the Senate Hall, they had nearly killed her, and they had nearly destroyed her and Kira's life. No way on her list were they freedom fighters of any sorts.

"I believe in this case, both in your opinion and mine, that the Talon are currently listed as terrorists," she said in a quiet voice that instantly silenced the whole room. Even the press that were covering the meeting with their twenty-four hour cameras had gone silent. "If you look around the room, you might be reminded of what just happened weeks ago. If the Talon are considered at the moment to be freedom fighters, then for whose freedom are they fighting for? They most certainly have Coordinators and Naturals working in their ranks, but the apathy they unleash upon civilians; should that be considered living together in peace? Should Coordinators join forces and attack the Earth, PLANT, and Orb when we are trying to make the peace? Is that what freedom fighting is? Or is it considered terrorism?

"There have been many reports that the Liberation Forces should have prevented Genesis on Junius Seven from firing its weapon. To those who doubt the LF, then let them doubt. However, we will continue to keep the peace here. The LF will do their job."

Cagalli stared at everyone in the room for a second before walking off the podium and out of the door, leaving a stunned and silent Senate Hall before a sudden explosion of words rose in her departure. She heard the pounding footsteps of her aides and probably Ellie following after her, but she didn't care. She hated politics.

"Princess! Princess!" Ellie jogged up to her, "Princess, please don't do that again!"

Cagalli curled a hand into a fist and suddenly spun on her heel, nearly having her bodyguard crash into her. "Why not Ellie! Those senators back there," she jabbed a finger back at the door, "are nothing but sniveling idiots! I can't take it anymore!"

"I meant," Ellie smirked a little, "please don't leave that fast again. You nearly had your aides tripping over each other on the way out. I know those are sniveling bastards, Princess, but when you leave, please don't sit your aides so close to the door."

Cagalli blinked at her bodyguard's attempt at humor before she lost her angry expression and a tired smile appeared on her face.

"Fallen flat on their faces?" she shook her head, "thanks Ellie."

"You're welcome, Princess," Ellie replied, "so what now?"

"Now I'm headed to Morganroete, alone."

"Alone! But Princess-"

"Ellie, remember what Ledonil's orders were? That I needed some private time to myself?"

"Yes, Princess," Ellie looked a bit ashamed, "apologies."

"Forgiven," Cagalli smiled at her, "now, I need you to go over with my aides a press statement for my departure back there in case the press come looking for me."

"I'll get right on it. See you later Princess," Ellie said as Cagalli stepped into her car and told the driver to head to Morganroete.

As the car pulled away, she shrugged off her suit jacket and loosened the collar on her shirt before grabbing her own personal data pad that was kept in her car and typing a few passwords into it. Files came up, all of the files that Kanoko had copied for her about Dr. Hibiki's research into the Ultimate Coordinator.

Athrun had forwarded copies of what he had inherited from his father relating to Genesis and she had been appalled and horrified at what she saw. Experimenting hadn't even begun to cover the extensive research used to create Coordinators and especially the Ultimate Coordinator. With every line she read of the horrific research she got angrier and angrier at Patrick Zala and at Dr. Ulen Hibiki. She had also begun to resent her biological mother, Katherine, for taking so long to do anything.

She also felt some anger at her adoptive father, Uzumi, for not telling her about all of this, but a rational part of her realized that he was trying to protect her. But there was still a part of her that wished she had never known of any of this information. Life would have been much simpler. She could have lived like the people of Orb did, in peace and stability. But no, she had to be a leader for her people, and she had to be strong.

Kira, Athrun, and even Lacus had told her to be strong, to have the will to fight and the will to lead. The four of them would support each other if the other faltered. And it was now Kira who was faltering – she couldn't fall to pieces, she had to go on.

"Princess Cagalli, there is a phone call for you," her driver suddenly spoke up and Cagalli picked up the phone on her side of the car.

"Cagalli here," she said in a calm and authoritative voice. Politicians and advisors called her constantly so she couldn't show a softer side on the phone.

"Good to hear your voice, Cagalli," Athrun's slightly distorted voice came back and Cagalli felt her spirits brighten up.

"Athrun!" she grinned, knowing full well that he couldn't see her, "are you all right?"

"Yes," Athrun replied, "I'm on Aprilius One at the moment."

"Wait," Cagalli decided to tease him a bit, "you're not billing me for this call are you?"

"No," he laughed lightly before his tone turned serious, "Lacus is."

Cagalli's smile drooped slightly as she heard the concern in his voice, "What's wrong? Something happen to Lacus?"

"Sort of," he replied, "she was the assassin's next target."

She gasped at his statement before a million thoughts rushed through her head. If Lacus had been killed…or even injured… "Is she all right?"

"Lacus is fine," Athrun reassured her, "we've also caught the assassin." She sensed his hesitation at his next words, but stayed quiet, as she knew that he would tell her in due time. "Cagalli, it's Griever."

As soon as he had said his name, images flashed in her head. She had seen the assassin codenamed Griever. A boy who looked exactly like Kira except for a wicked looking scar running down the left side of his face, and was in a twisted way, her brother. But she had thought he died on Mendel. Athrun had told her that he had shot him during the confusion in which Kira had killed Sven Anderson. That was not possible.

She didn't realize she had spoken her last thoughts out loud until Athrun replied in her ear, "Apparently, he told us that he had a clone body like Rau Le Creuset and transferred his essence into it after he was shot. Either that false memories were uploaded into his mind. But his DNA match is one-hundred percent Griever."

"H-How did…" Cagalli couldn't even finish as she thought of the horror of Griever still alive, if not in another form. If Griever was there, then what about Kira? Kira had explained to her that he felt a spiking pain in his head each time Griever was near…so then did Griever know where Kira was?

"Lacus stopped him," Athrun said in a quiet voice.

"Lacus!" her eyes widened in surprise.

"She has seed-mode," he whispered, "but it's different."

"Oh," Cagalli was quiet for a second before a thought occurred to her, "Can Griever sense where Kira is?"

"That's what I'm going to ask him. I just wanted to call you to tell you that we've got the assassin so you can tell this to the Senate."

"All right," Cagalli let a small smile form on her lips, "be careful Athrun. I love you."

"I love you too Cagalli," he replied before a click told her that he hung up the phone.

"Be strong Athrun," she whispered, even though he couldn't hear her as she placed the phone back in the receiver. She knocked on the glass separating her compartment and the driver's side. "Tetu, change of plans. Please take me to my office and alert Ellie and my aides."

"As you wish Princess," her driver replied before turning to head to her office, leaving Morganroete behind. The research would have to continue later. She had to report this to the Senate and rally them to face against whatever Patrick Zala was going to throw their way.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

A short chapter and it is an interlude before we get back into the swing of things. Sorry for the lack of updates, but working two jobs and having karate class at night makes me have a lot less time to write than I normally would. Thanks for reading and reviewing this fic!


	11. Lies

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Eleven – Lies_

Athrun leaned against the phone booth for a second before pushing off and heading back to Lacus' office on Aprilius One. Her office also doubled as a spare bedroom of sorts as did all of the Council members' offices. Even though her home was on Aprilius One in a different sector, for the past few days she hadn't returned there.

He had wanted to say more to Cagalli, but couldn't risk it in such an open line. He didn't want his relationship with Cagalli out in the open. He didn't want Cagalli to be more of a target than she was if Patrick Zala found out.

Heading back to Lacus' office, he wanted to check on her before going back to the prison area on Aprilius One. Initially, ZAFT was going to transfer Griever to the penal prison on November Four, but Lacus had insisted that he stay at the prisons on Aprilius One so they can find out more information. Others who had supported Eileen Canaver agreed with her.

As he walked the halls towards her office, he noticed that there were a few ZAFT members who he recognized, more as acquaintances than friends, and they were staring at him curiously. He still felt awkward being back on the PLANTs after two years, especially on Aprilius One. He had deserted ZAFT, joined with the Clyne Faction, opposed his father, and ultimately blew the Justice up to destroy Jakin Due. And now he was back on PLANT, except he was part of the LF. He wondered what others thought of his actions…

Stopping in front of Lacus' office door, he knocked gently, but received no answer. He keyed the door open and stepped in. Lacus wasn't at her desk, but her workstation looked like it was recently abandoned. He stepped further into her office and suddenly stopped as he heard singing.

Peering around a corner, he saw her sitting by the window overlooking the city lights of Aprilius One gleaming in the simulated nighttime sky. Pink-chan was on her lap, its flaps waving in tune with her singing.

The melody was hauntingly sad, yet it spoke of hope and Athrun smiled as he closed his eyes to listen to her sing. She had such a beautiful voice, which was one of the reasons why he was attracted to her. But even now, he knew that her voice was the voice of peace, and Kira's salvation.

After a few minutes, she ended the song and he opened his eyes to see her staring at him, Pink-chan silent and content. "It's my new song that I've been working on. I've named it 'Fields of Hope'."

"It's beautiful," he replied as he walked in and sat down on the couch across from her.

"Thank you," she bowed her head slightly, "Kira helped me with some of the lyrics."

He smiled slightly at the mention of his best friends name before looking at her, "Are you all right?"

"I will be once this is over," she replied as she stared down at Pink-chan, "everyone keeps asking me that and I have to say yes, but you of all people besides Kira, know the truth."

"I'm going back to ask Griever more questions," Athrun changed the subject, picking up on her solemn mood. "Lacus…how…why…" He didn't really know how to phrase his next question, but she understood what he was trying to get at.

"Remember what I told you that night about my father sheltering me and telling me that I must present myself to the public as who I am?"

"Yes," Athrun slowly nodded.

"That's what I guess my seed-mode is," Lacus rubbed an invisible spot of dirt off of Pink-chan, "you told me afterwards that I seem to command Nikolai to release me and somehow turned him from his programming. I command people. If that is the power I possess, then I don't want it. If it will force the will of others, what is there to stop me from controlling everyone?"

"Your own heart and goodness, Lacus," Athrun replied, staring at her.

She smiled sadly, "Thank you Athrun. I needed to hear that from someone other than myself in order to believe it to be so."

"Lacus, you told us not to falter when we are needed. Don't falter now because of this," Athrun reassured her, "we have to stay strong."

"I know," she stared out of the window, "this is our inheritance and our legacy…"

* * *

It was at least a half-hour later when Athrun stepped out of Lacus' office and headed towards the prison level, escorted by a few ZAFT personnel. Though he knew that the PLANT Supreme Council had lead of the investigation they had allowed the LF to proceed with their own interrogation since Lacus had told them they were also trying to find Patrick Zala. He felt odd being escorted by ZAFT militia instead of having the freedom to walk in and out like he did two years ago.

He knew all of the conversations he had with Griever were recorded and listened to by the investigators so he had to be careful in what he mentioned, especially about Kira. His escort led him to the entrance of the maximum security cells and he handed over his identification card to be processed through. He carried two with him, one given to him by Lacus to allow him to pass through the Council members level without any question, the other was his LF identification.

"You're cleared through Lieutenant Commander," the ZAFT guard said before opening the door for him and he stepped through. Another guard was waiting for him on the other side and led him to Griever's cell.

"Knock when you need to leave," the guard said leaving him in front of Griever's cell before heading back out the door. The door clicked shut behind the guard and Athrun stared at Griever who was sitting sullenly on his cell's bed, leaning against the wall, knees brought up to his chest.

"Come to visit again?" Griever asked in a quiet voice.

Initially, during his first round of questioning the boy who looked like Kira, Athrun had been suspicious of Griever's docility and lack of hostility. It was as if something had been beaten out of him, leaving him like an empty shell. Though Griever still didn't provide much information, his change in personality had thrown him off.

"You know there'll always been questions until we find Zala," Athrun replied, pulling up the chair the guard had sat in and sat down himself. He took a deep breath before plunging on, "Griever, what is Patrick Zala planning to do? Why create the Talon and then destroy it so easily? I thought he'd be smarter to leave a scapegoat of sorts."

"I don't know his plans," Griever sat back, some of his former arrogance showing through.

"You do, I know," Athrun matched his smirk. If there was one thing he had picked up from watching his father and from ZAFT training school, was that to interrogate someone, one had to play either a good cop or bad cop. Right now, he was playing bad cop, or at least he hope it was bad cop.

"Well, obviously you guys found the Genesis on Junius 7 didn't you?" Griever shrugged, "Zala thought it be a reminder to the PLANTs that the war they fought was because of the Bloody Valentine Incident."

"He did a great job reminding them," Athrun narrowed his eyes, "he pissed the people of PLANTs off."

"Precisely," Griever shot back, which startled Athrun.

"You don't get it do you," Griever shook his head, "Zala wants the people of PLANT pissed. But not at him. You see, his plan is to get the PLANTs riled up before he makes his grand entrance."

"You know we're on his tail and we're finding him," Athrun decided to try a different tactic.

"That's nice," Griever looked bored.

"Why did you turn? You could have easily killed Lacus and escaped. You did once when you attempted Cagalli's assassination," Athrun was getting frustrated and he knew he shouldn't be so quick to his anger early in the questioning. But it seemed like whatever had broken Griever down and given them the opportunity to capture him had lost all of its power.

"I could have, could I," Griever mused before standing up and pacing around his cell, "I could have. Athrun when your father was still alive, did you understand him?"

"Huh!"

"Did you understand him to be a kind man?"

"I should be asking the questions," Athrun narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, you should, but this is actually easier and you might see into the motives whereas these cameras and recording devices won't," Griever glanced up at the cameras on the ceiling and Athrun wondered if the teen who looked like Kira knew what he was doing. "So I ask again, do you understand him to be a kind man?"

Athrun knew that Griever knew Kira's secret and was actually making and effort to tell him what was really going on without the rest of the PLANT Supreme Council or some of Orb's investigators to find out. It was that certain measure that made Athrun start to trust what Griever was saying – but only a very small measure.

"Back when I was young, yes. He doted on me like any other parent would."

"Yes, all parents do some form of that, whether or not they abandoned them or abuse them too. Doting is not necessarily a form of pleasure, it can also be pain. Now, how did you feel when your father intended on destroying the Naturals?"

"Confused at first, then angry at him for being so bigoted."

"How did you feel after you found out Freedom's pilot's reasons for stealing the Gundam and why he had joined with Orb, even after being part of the Earth Alliance."

"It wasn't easy, but he convinced me."

"How about after Lacus decided to create her own faction?"

"Many view her as just a pop idol, but she's also like her father, a negotiator, not a politician. She has a good sense of right and wrong. I guess my father didn't realize that when we were engaged. I trusted her as much as I trusted my father before everything hit the fan.

"Then in that sense, you should understand what separates Lacus from your father. What their goals are and what they will do to accomplish those means. Not many can understand those two the way you understand them," Griever said before sitting back down in his chair.

Athrun processed his words for a minute and it seemed that an important link in the grand puzzle suddenly clicked into place. Lacus used her words to convince people and so did his father. Both appealed to Coordinators to fight and to stand down, but what separated Lacus from his father was that Lacus understood the people, being a pop idol and all. She understood what they needed to lift their spirits up. His father never did. Too inundated with politics and with power, he lost touch with the people, as many politicians did. Griever was correct, Lacus, even though her position was that of a politician, like Cagalli, was a negotiator. She understood people's needs and therefore tried her best to give it to them.

Patrick only thought he understood what people needed, whereas it was his own selfish gains. He thought he understood that by leading the Coordinators to war and using the Bloody Valentine Incident, he would be able to wage a total annihilation against Naturals. But it was Lacus with her words (though indirectly), had reminded that there was once a time where Coordinators' ancestors were Naturals and to destroy the past is to destroy themselves. Lacus and Cagalli showed that Coordinators could live in harmony with Naturals because they were essentially one and the same.

And he knew he had unlocked a part of Patrick Zala's plans. Which meant certain urgency to rescue Kira before any of it could come to fruition. Because if Kira wasn't rescued, then all would be lost.

Athrun stared at Griever who stared back at him. He couldn't say his next question out loud. If he did, then the PLANTs would find Kira first before they did and then Kira's secret would be out in the open.

_He's on Martius Eight_, Griever voice suddenly spoke into his mind and Athrun blinked. He did a double-take of the brown-haired teen before getting up, feigning a nonchalant look on his face before walking over and knocking on the door. The guard immediately opened the door and Athrun walked out without saying another word.

As soon as he was in the main hall, he made a beeline towards Lacus' office. They knew where Patrick Zala was and Kira was probably with him!

* * *

Kira blinked open his eyes, feeling lethargic. He glanced around and found the source of his lethargy to be an IV-needle stuck into him, probably pumping him with a sedative. He also found himself sitting in a chair in an unfamiliar room. The room was padded with grey pads that looked soundproof and there was a glass window that was darkened on his left. Grabbing the needle embedded in his arm, he pulled it out, wincing slightly from the twinge of pain before tossing it to the ground.

He got up on unsteady legs and stood in one place for a few minutes, eyes closed, trying to find his center of gravity and dispel most of the effects of the sedative. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes once more and took a tentative step forward before he began pacing around. A flash of irritation ran through him as he was angry at the actions of Dr. Madison and of himself. What the hell did they want with him? Why was she testing him like this? He was angry that he lashed out with some unknown power. What was that power? Why did it bother him so much?

Kira kept pacing around until he suddenly brought his head up to his right as a door in the padded room, hidden by all of the pads, opened and in stepped the last person he wanted to see.

"What the hell do you want?" he snapped, glaring at Richard who was dressed in a white jumpsuit with pockets.

"Why are you so angry, Kira?" Richard stared at him as if he didn't understand the situation.

"Come to throw more golf balls at me?" Kira muttered as he turned away from the man and stared at a blank spot on the ground.

"Kira," Richard stepped in, "no one here is your enemy. We're only trying to help you."

"Help me? All you've been doing is keeping me here. If you want to help me, then let me go!" he shouted, narrowing his eyes in anger.

"I'm afraid we can't do that Kira. You're valuable to us. And we want to help you develop your powers," Richard shook his head as if speaking to a child to which irritated him further.

"I don't want these damn powers! I want to be a normal person! I'm a normal Coordinator!" he balled his hands into fists, "let me go!" The anger that was in his grew so rapidly that he saw a haze of red in his vision and it left him dizzy. He could feel his heartbeat increase, anger and adrenaline flowing in him…when all of the sudden, everything became clear and he realized he could see the tendrils once more.

Those same tendrils that he was able to touch and move objects with. He knew he had shattered glass and pushed away people with it and he also knew that it was dangerous, but that rational part of him knew that he had to escape and to use any means necessary. He wouldn't be manipulated by Patrick Zala or his minions anymore. He wanted to go back to the _Archangel_, to see Athrun, to see Cagalli and most of all to see Lacus.

"Kira-" Richard started, but Kira cut him off savagely.

"Shut up!" a seed suddenly exploded in his mind and everything started to slow down. He saw the tendrils around Richard as if they were clear as day. Noting the brightest ones that were connected to his windpipe, Kira grabbed onto them and began to squeeze. The rational part of him cried out that it wasn't right, he was going to kill Richard, but he clamped down on that part ruthlessly.

He barely noticed that Richard's eyes were bugged in an effort to suck more air into his now closed windpipe, nor that the man was starting to turn red from the lack of oxygen. "Stop it," he growled at Richard, pitting him with a glare, "no more of your childish games. I don't want to be part of your sick twisted experiments anymore."

He turned his gaze on the door and pushed against the tendrils surrounding the door. The door creaked and groaned as he pushed outward and finally opened with a thunk of protest. Kira turned back to Richard, noting that the man was now unconscious. He released him and the older man crumpled to the ground in a ragged heap.

Narrowing his eyes, he stepped over Richard's crumpled body and out the door. There were no guards to greet him, but Kira sensed that the cameras in the room that had been focused on him were probably all active, recording him and also summoning the guards. He didn't know where to go, but decided to head to his right. Any direction was better than being in that room.

He wondered why was everything so slow, but then realized that it was him who was moving fast, his seed-mode, he realized. A feral smile appeared on his face as he knew that he had an advantage. Just then a general alarm started to blare along with the general announcement of his escape. Kira quickly ran down the corridors, twisting and turning down halls. He made a left down another hall when he skidded to a stop. The guards down the hall shouted in surprise and started to fire their machine guns.

Kira ran back the way he came from when a flash of pain erupted from his side and he grunted in pain from the bullet wound. Holding a hand to his side, he turned to another corner, hearing the others chase after him, but their footsteps faded away soon enough, him moving faster than the others.

Taking another hallway, he ran across a catwalk and suddenly stopped as he saw that at least two groups of guards were advancing towards him. A clomping of feet behind him told him that guards were behind him, and he was trapped on the catwalk. He glanced down and saw that the tendrils that he was able to touch pulsated red, warning him that he shouldn't jump as they wouldn't be able to catch him, nor would he be able to grab onto them.

Cursing silently, he crouched into a fighting stance. There were too many guards to manipulate the tendrils and he knew he couldn't dodge bullets from that many machine guns, seed-mode or not. His throbbing wound on his side made him a bit dizzy from the blood loss. He couldn't lose now! He was so close to escaping from this hell hole.

"Halt, or we will shoot," the lead guard in front of him said, raising the barrel of his machine gun up.

Frowning, Kira held his hands up and stared at the lead guard. He dared not to move his eyes from the guard's face, but could sense with the tendrils to guide him that someone, was approaching from behind to handcuff him. The weave of the tendrils around him told him that the rest of the guards were still pointing all of their weapons on him, leaving the lone guard to cuff him. A predatory thought flashed through his head and he tensed, ready to act.

In the second he felt the thick cool metal of the handcuffs, he spun around and drew out the person's gun, simultaneously flipping the safety off and holding gun to the person's head. A part of him was mildly surprised that it was a girl, but he shoved that thought away. He had to escape from here and he was going to use any means to do so.

"I will shoot her if you don't let me pass," he growled at the guards who had snapped their rifles towards him.

Kira watched the guards carefully. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the guards sighting him for a sniper shot and pulled the gun from the girl's head and swung around to fire at the guard.

The tendrils suddenly warned him of impending danger but it was too late. He felt a surge of electro shock rush through his spine, paralyzing him. Kira's eyes bugged from the intense pain and shock before he collapsed boneless to the ground. The last thing he saw was the girl standing over him, holding a small hand held taser, an unreadable expression on her face. Then all became black.

* * *

The moment Keiji saw Kira on the catwalk, he immediately wanted to blow the whole mission and take his son out of there. The only thing that stopped him was the wild uncontrollable look on his son's face. The haunted look of a predator that he saw was most definitely not his son. Even Yzak and Dearka beside him had shocked expressions on their faces, though they were quick to wipe them away.

They had been following Riley into the heart of the base when the alarm of an escaped prisoner sounded and the girl had told him that they should join the search party to make it seem they were part of the facility instead of new people. Keiji agreed and so they joined with a party, Riley acting as their squad commander.

He had to admit that her training under Quinn showed. She knew how to take command and very easily lead her squad mates into danger and out of it. Except for this one.

When Kira had taken Riley hostage, he had frozen to the spot, not believing what his eyes were showing him. The wild look on his son's face had shocked him and it reminded him of one other who had the same exact expression. Griever. If it wasn't for the fact that Griever had a wicked scar down the left side of his face, he would have thought this was the assassin.

Only when Riley used a sleight of hand to get a taser to shock Kira out that he saw his son's eyes return from their seed-mode to normalcy before he passed out cold.

"Good job, Lieutenant Onoko," one of the men stepped forward as Riley stepped back from Kira's body and rubbed her neck a bit painfully.

"You and you!" the man who had Lieutenant Commander pips on his uniform jabbed a finger at Keiji and the guy next to him, "get the prisoner back to his cell. 456-B."

Keiji immediately sprang into action, shouldering his machine gun and gently picked Kira up by one arm while the guy next to him did the same. They both headed towards the way Kira came through on the catwalk moments before. Inwardly, he knew he had to get his son out fast. Whatever Patrick did to him in the past few days had adversely affected him and Keiji didn't want his son to be here any longer. He let the other guy lead a bit, pretending to be shouldering a heavy burden while he memorized the route to Kira's cell and looked for other ways out of the maze-like halls.

"Hold on to the prisoner, I gotta punch in the code," the guy shoved the unconscious Kira towards him and Keiji caught his son in a gentle but tight embrace. He knew security cameras were all around and however much he wanted to take Kira and go right now, he still had another part of the plan to execute. Yzak and Dearka were in charge of finding Patrick Zala and possibly eliminating him, but he had to get to a scientist's terminal and grab all the files Patrick had on his son and the experiments that were conducted on him since he was taken by Quinn. After what he had seen, he had to get that information to his wife who could be the only person who could help Kira now.

The guy tapped a part of the wall and a keypad popped out. He punched the code in carelessly and Keiji instantly committed the keystrokes to his memory. The door hissed open and the guy stared at him.

"Why don't you take him in. I don't feel like carrying him," he shrugged and jerked his head inward.

Keiji picked Kira up and entered in, noticing that the cell they had put his son in was a fairly large room, but very sparse. There was just a military issued bed with a thin blanket and ratty looking pillow. A small table with a single plastic chair was the only other furniture in the room. What looked like shattered remnants of glass still laid on the table. He glanced around, his keen eyes taking in parts of the walls high above where he knew there had to be a one-way mirror of sorts. Keiji quickly put Kira down on the bed, taking care to draw the blanket up.

He dared not linger any longer before anyone suspected and headed out the door. Outside, the guy who had punched in the code gave him an odd stare.

"What's with the tucking in?"

"He's just a kid. You know what they've been doing to him. At least maybe he'll remember that when he wakes up and won't come killing us," Keiji adlibbed.

"Good point," the man scratched his head, "anyways, what's your connection to the Lieutenant?"

"Onoko?" Keiji asked and got a nod in return, "her bodyguard."

"Whoa. Didn't know that Dr. Madison ordered one for her assistant, freaky man, freaky."

"After this?" Keiji jerked his head back towards the closed door, "besides, she's been working pretty close to the kid right?"

"Yeah," the man suddenly picked up his pager and stared at it, "oh shit. Gotta go man. Nice talking with ya." He turned and jogged away, leaving Keiji alone in the hall.

Keiji didn't know what kind of plans Zala had for his son or for the others, but he instinctively knew that it was going to happen soon. He headed back up to where he last saw the others, and knew that he didn't have too much time to get all of the information he needed. First things first, he needed to find out the patrol schedule and the schedules of all the other personnel, especially that of Patrick Zala and Dr. Madison.

And if Dr. Madison mentioned by the man was the Madison Francis he had been thinking of, then they might all be in danger.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Once again, apologies for getting this out so late. I won't be able to update for a while because of work and karate at night. I'm also moving into my new apartment for the school year so that's been taking up some time. Thank you to those who've been supporting and reading this fanfic and my others from day one. I owe it to you guys. And this is where the plot starts to thicken. x


	12. Operation Helio

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Twelve – Operation Helio_

It was later in the night when Patrick Zala entered the room Kira occupied. He walked over and sat down at the rickety chair that was in the room, the faint glow of the lights from the hallway casting a shadow over the boy's unconscious form. He marveled at how much the boy had grown since he had last saw him. Had it been so long since the Copernicus City?

"Kira, your Uncle Patrick is about to do something bad. I wish you were able to stop me," he started in a soft voice, "but I need you now more than ever." Reaching over, he brushed a few strands of hair away from his face with a fatherly gentleness.

"I also wish Athrun was here. The two of you were inseparable as children. Best of friends. What have you done now? If you were only brought to the PLANTs by your parents. What a life you would have had," he said, leaning back against the chair. "You could have been the best of all of ZAFT. You could have been part of FAITH.

"Why did you parents take you away? Why run to Heliopolis? There was no intention of hurting you or anyone else. All there was was the purpose to which you were created and born for. Your purpose Kira is to be the one that chooses the fate of humankind. Of Coordinators and of Naturals.

"So why did your parents run away? You could have thrived on the PLANTs. You could have been closer friends with Athrun. And when Lenore died, you could have helped my son through his grief. You could have been the brother he never had. You could have turned him from joining ZAFT and shedding unnecessary blood.

"But that blood should be shed, don't you think? What of the countless thousands of innocents who died to create this sense of peace? What are their say in the creation of nations, worlds, and countries? No…none of this should happen."

Patrick stood up from the chair and bent over Kira's unconscious form, "I will be doing something bad Kira; stop me, if you can." He abruptly spun around and walked out of the room, leaving the room in darkness once more.

* * *

_"I will be doing something bad Katherine; stop me, if you can…"_

_"How dare you! Why Ulen, why!"_

_"Because it is the next step of mankind!"_

A part of Kira knew that he was dreaming, but yet it was so vivid at the same time. He felt like he was watching the whole scene unfold as a third party; like a movie camera of sorts and he had no control over what scene was going to happen next.

_"How many now, Ulen?__ How many more!"_

_"If you really want to know, dear Katherine, this will be the sixty-seventh time."_

_"Ulen…please, I'm begging you, stop."_

With each word spoken Kira saw bits and pieces of flashed images through his head, all in different order. There was no chronological order to the images and he felt a bit confused. He understood what he was seeing was his biological father's research and the futile protests of his biological mother, but what he didn't get was why he was seeing this. He wasn't even born during the process.

_"For this one, I think we'll make him into the likeness of you, don't you think Katherine?" Ulen sneered at his cowering wife who was sitting on the cool metallic floor of one of the labs, her hand over her stomach. "Fitting punishment for disobeying me all these years."_

_"Ulen, please…" Katherine whispered brokenly, staring at the syringe she had just jabbed into herself. It had contained a frozen embryo and she wanted to make herself pregnant just to show her husband that even a natural birthing process was more humane than his psychotic experiments._

_Ulen ignored his wife as he tapped a few keys on the keyboard and transferred the embryo into the artificial womb in the next room over. He turned to one of the two assistants in the room. "Dr. Attha, start the process."_

_"Yes sir," Kira knew that if he was in a physical body, his jaw would have completely dropped open. The man sitting at one of the consoles was none other than a very young looking Uzumi Nara Attha, future leader of Orb._

_"Dr. Kamiya, I'll need you to power the heat capacitors to keep it at level temperature and apply the calculations we've corrected since the last experiment," Uzumi said to the woman on the other side of Ulen._

_"Its completed, Uzumi," Kira staggered in his dream as he saw his mother, very young-looking, sitting at the other console, tapping a few keys before the artificial womb started to glow a warm red._

Blackness started to fade into his vision and Kira watched as the blackness was replaced by a peaceful looking room. He vaguely recognized the room and tilted his head in confusion as he saw that Katherine Hibiki was holding two bundles. No, they weren't two bundles, they were two babies and he realized that one was him, the other his sister Cagalli.

_"Katherine, hold them up! I want to have a picture of this!" Kanoko came bustling into his field of vision and Kira saw that she was dressed in civilian clothing, a camera hanging from her neck._

_There was a flash of the picture being taken before Kanoko walked to the computer and plugged in the camera to develop the pictures. A few seconds later she walked back and handed Katherine the photo. "Here, sign their names!"_

_Katherine handed over her babies, Cagalli to Uzumi who had come to stand by her side, Kira to Kanoko who immediately began to fuss over the boy.__ She reached over and on the small table near her, she scrawled their names._

_"Uzumi, Kanoko, there's something I wanted to tell you for a while," Katherine finished signing their names, but did not take her babies back. She looked up at them with solemn eyes._

_"I was going to leave before all of this happened with Cagalli, but now, with Kira…" her eyes started to tear, "I want to escape from this hell hole. I don't want my children to grow up with such a madman as their father."_

_"We understand, Katherine and we'll be with you all the way," Kanoko said._

The scene faded into blackness once more and Kira briefly wondered when it would be over. It wasn't that he was impatient, it was that he found it both fascinating and horrifying at the same time. This was his past, his reason of existence…

_"So what now, Uzumi?"__ Kanoko asked, a bit of dried blood running down from a cut on her forehead. Both of them looked worse for wear in the shuttle they used to escape from Colony Mendel. "Katherine's dead, the colony's in shambles. What do we do?"_

_"They'll be others looking for him. Especially Zala and LaFlaga. I overheard Ulen talking about them since they are the sponsors for this project. We need to hide," Uzumi said grimly, peeling a bandage from his shoulder and redressing the wound once more._

_"What about the children?"_

_Uzumi stared at both little Kira and Cagalli, sleeping peacefully in a single crib. Kira had grabbed onto a tuft of Cagalli's hair and was sucking his thumb while Cagalli had latched herself onto her brother's arm and was refusing to let go._

_"I'll take Kira-"_

_"No," Kanoko stopped him in mid-sentence, "I'll take Kira. I was the one watching him through the nine months he grew. Besides, it would be easier if you took Cagalli to grow up with both Naturals and Coordinators back in Orb. Ledonil can guard her well."_

_"Where will you go?"_

_"Not to the PLANTs. But I was thinking, if Orb could build a neutral colony for those who want to live in space…"_

_"Consider it done. I'll propose it to the current leader," Uzumi smiled grimly, "what about now?"_

_"I think I'll head to the __Copernicus__City__. They won't suspect anything over there," Kanoko stared at the two children. "We have to keep this a secret from them. They can't know, especially Kira." She turned to Uzumi, her eyes glistening with tears, "Promise me, Uzumi; promise me that we'll never meet again and never talk about this ever."_

_Uzumi was taken aback by her words, but nodded, "I promise. But that doesn't mean I won't keep an eye on you or Kira. You'll be protected from afar, Kanoko."_

_"Thank you, Uzumi," Kanoko said._

Kira's world faded into blackness once more before no more dreams came to him and he slept on, oblivious to what had transpired a few hours ago. However, the rage inside of him hadn't died down and was planning its revenge.

* * *

Patrick Zala reached his office and closed the door quietly behind him. He walked over to his desk and punched up a communications screen, the face of the man he had been talking to earlier came on. He still sat in the shadows and his breath was a bit wheezy.

"How is he?" the man in the shadows asked.

"He attempted to escape, but that was quelled by one of my people. He is as you had said, perfect in all forms. Though his mind is resistant to what we've been trying to do, it is on the part of that bitch Kamiya and Attha's dealings along with his exposure to other elements we couldn't control," Patrick replied.

"Have you talked with him?"

"Only once."

"What do you think, Patrick?"

"Kira is the Ultimate Coordinator. Have you ever dreamed of such a thing when you first showed the world that Coordinators existed?"

"No, but it was a dream of mine that was passed down through my kin. I am very pleased that it has worked out so well. Do you think I can visit him?"

"You may."

"Very well then. I look forward to talking with you in person, Patrick."

"And I too, George."

The communication ended and Patrick brought up an audio-only communication. "Begin Part Two of Operation Helio."

* * *

It was a general announcement that cut through all of the broadcasting stations on the PLANTs and on Earth. Everyone stared at the media screens, giant and small as they saw a face that they hadn't seen since the Battle of Jakin Due. It was a face many associated to be a dictator, evil-incarnate, and bigot, and those were the most pleasant of names many could think up.

"My name is Patrick Zala and I was the former Chairman of the Supreme Council on the PLANTs. Many of you believed me dead by the end of that battle, having fire Genesis and causing havoc and chaos among both the PLANT Supreme Council and the Earth's ruling forces. I am standing before you in an undisclosed location for my own safety to tell you that I did not die in that battle.

"That was my clone."

The image paused and as expected many gasped at the revelation while some other scoffed to whatever the image said.

"As I understand, cloning in this world is something that should never be tampered with. But I have, or had, a clone and he went insane from the madness and disease that myth had been associated with clones. He was the one that fired Genesis and took over the Supreme Council. I know some of you might be scoffing at the idea that perhaps it is I who is the clone or perhaps I am a body double who looks eerily like Patrick Zala, but I can prove to you that I am neither one of those.

"I have just released to the media outlets all throughout the PLANTs and Earth copies of my DNA and birth history that was verified by both PLANT and Earth doctors. Their numbers are attached so if the media gets suspicious and decides to call one of these doctors they may do so and realize the truth. I am Patrick Zala."

The image of Patrick paused once more as waves of murmuring ran throughout the places the people had stopped and watch him on the screen.

"I also know that many of you are wondering why I am doing this right now. I do this because of a crisis that has gripped the Earth and my beloved PLANTs. Many of you know that the recent bombing of the Senate was in Orb and many of our world's politicians and policy makers have sadly perished in this blast. Many of you know that it was a renegade group called the Talon who was behind this and that the Liberation Forces have put a stop to them by launching a small, but effective task force against their base.

"But what many of you don't know is who the mastermind behind all of this was. In my three years of hiding, I was able to find many corruptions everywhere. In my time of hiding from those who wish to kill me, I was able to find information and the Talon…the mastermind of the Talon is none other than Orb."

On Aprilius One, there was a resounding "WHAT!" from Athrun and shocked expressions from Lacus, Athrun, and Bartfield who were sitting in her office, discussing about the recent developments of Kira's whereabouts.

Back in Orb, the Senate had paused in its meeting to watch the live feed and when the announcement was dropped, each head turned to stare at Cagalli who was on the podium, telling the assembled Senators and delegates that the LF in cooperation with ZAFT had just caught the assassin who was trying to kill all the members of the Supreme Council. Cagalli had turned white as a sheet and was gripping the podium's sides in a death grip. A million thoughts were racing through her mind, each one of the screaming "NO!"

"The mastermind of the Talon is none other than Orb," Patrick Zala repeated and took a deep breath, "many of you won't believe what I am saying and you have that right. But this is the true side of the double-edged sword they are holding. There is their side, and the truth. Truth is, Orb created the Talon." He pressed a button showing the recent battle images of what the Talon had been terrorizing Panama and in Colony Mendel.

Over the images, he began to speak, "These images are the images of Orb's work. They are a country that promotes the unification of both Naturals and Coordinators and managed to garner the ire of the Earth Alliance during the war two years ago. Unfortunately their country destroyed itself and now, Princess Cagalli Attha, current leader, has created the Liberation Forces. The Liberation Forces claim to be keeping the peace between both Coordinators and Naturals, to prevent flare-ups from either side. But what they've been doing is nothing but terrorizing all of us to keep our guard up.

"You'll notice the similarities between the Talon Fleet and the Liberation Forces. Both used ships of ZAFT and Earth made so what is to stop them from plotting a take over with the two fleets by pitting them against each other and pretending that all of it is to keep the peace. In reality, the LF are the Talon and they've only just supposedly eliminated their own fleet."

Patrick pushed another button and a live feed image of the current battle between the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_ versus the _Isis_, _Heracles_, and _Thoreau_. "This is a current battle between what seems to be the LF versus the remnant Talon fleet. But in reality, they are holding such a mock battle to alert the others. Cagalli Attha has created the Liberation Forces to be a hindrance and hidden terror to the public. She has feared retaliation on her country since the Earth Alliance forced them to destroy themselves; feared it to the point where she decided she would create a task force in the guise of keeping peace, where they strike out against those that seek to destroy them.

Patrick's image returned to the screen and his eyes hardened, "And she had help. With the help of Lacus Clyne and her Clyne Faction."

In Lacus' office, all three had gone silent and Athrun had paled slightly while Lacus had no expression on her face. Andrew had dropped his coffee cup, spilling his latest coffee creation onto the carpeted ground.

"In the war two years ago my clone had advocated along with Ezalia Joule the denunciation of Lacus Clyne and while many of you believed him, there were those whose doubts were in the right place. One must ask, how could this sweet young pop star be part of the war? How can she advocate peace and why are others condemning her as being a puppet of the Earth Alliance.

"Those doubts were unfounded, but in the recent events those doubts must be brought up once more. The Clyne Faction was her creation and the _Eternal_ her flagship. Her flagship had one purpose, to carry the weapons of mass destruction against those that stood at odds at them. They carried the METEOR weapon systems for two mobile suits, the Justice and the Freedom. While the Justice and Freedom with these destructive systems prevented the nuclear warheads from reaching PLANT they were also used to destroy so many countless innocent lives.

"They were supposedly destroyed at the end of the war, but as you can see," the images of the Justice battling on Junius 7's Genesis appeared and a split image of the Freedom fighting at Panama also appeared. "They have not been destroyed. Why should weapons like these exist? They have N-Jammer Cancellation technology in them. Think of the destruction these two mobile suits could have on the populace if you do not submit to their will."

Patrick's image appeared once more and he had a hardened expression on his face, "I appear before you today because of recent political events. I am living in safety for the fear of retaliation from Orb and from the Clyne Faction. The person who has assassinated Eileen, whom I thought was a dear colleague of mine was nothing but a sham. She was part of the Clyne Faction and Lacus Clyne wanted everyone to think that the assassin was after her. I do not know where the assassin is at the moment, but I risk my own well-being to warn the populace.

"Your terrorists are the Talon, but in reality, they are the works of Orb's Liberation Forces and the Clyne Faction."

The transmission suddenly ended and almost everywhere, murmurings of what had just transpired erupted in full force. Even ZAFT and OMNI were shocked at the events and all the commanders were staring at one another before they scrambled to intercept the supposedly fighting forces at Colony Mendel.

Total chaos was at hand and sitting in the middle of it was Patrick Zala.

But that was only the beginning of Operation Helio.

* * *

As soon as the broadcast finished, Quinn Misali glanced at his second-in-command and nodded, giving her the signal to alert their troops. He had expected some kind of speech like that from Zala, and while he felt a bit angered at lumping him with the Clyne Faction and LF, it was probably one of Zala's most brilliant plans.

"Shadow Squad One, Two, and Three, you may execute your plan," his second-in-command spoke into the comm. with three groups of suicide troops that had already been stationed inside Colony Mendel. They had their job to do and Quinn had his. After all, it was only a job.

He pressed a button to bring up the communications screen to both the Heracles and Thoreau. "Hold the fort here. We're going to escort Mendel to its destination."

"Roger that," both captains replied before the comm. shut off.

Quinn turned to his radar officer, "What's the status of the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_."

"They've retreated for the moment, but it looks like they're coming back for another round," his officer said.

"Hit them with everything we've got. Then bring us into the one of the bays of the Colony. I want to restock and refuel with supplies. We'll be expecting ZAFT and OMNI forces to head towards us. But they'll be too late to stop the next part of this plan."

"Aye sir," his second-in-command replied.

_It's not over yet_, Quinn thought to himself as he watched the battle screens so both the _Babylon_ and _Archangel_ headed back towards them.

* * *

As the speech went on, Murrue had gripped the arms of her chair tightly, her knuckles turning white. Everyone was silent on the bridge except when there was a few gasped outbursts at the ludicrous statements Zala was making. While Murrue was furious at how Zala painted a twisted picture of their attempt to stop Genesis at Jakin Due and placing the blame of the Talon on Orb and Clyne Faction, it was the first time she had seen the clone that had been hiding for so long.

The clone that had Quinn turned against them and kidnap Kira. The clone that was the mastermind behind all of this.

"We've got a problem," Ledonil's face suddenly appeared on the small screen next to her chair."

"We have to stop the Genesis on Mendel, but I think both ZAFT and OMNI forces would come looking for us by then," Murrue replied.

"I don't think at this stage, Zala would fire Genesis. Not right now when he's just announced our condemnation. We'll hit them one more time before retreating," Ledonil looked thoughtful.

"But we still have to destroy Genesis," Murrue pointed out.

"I know. We'll think of a plan," Kisaka replied. "But we can't go back to Orb or use one of the PLANTs as shelter."

Murrue brought up a small map of the Earth and its LaGrange points on the other small console next to her. She tapped a few buttons before a frown creased her face, "You're not going to like this, but…we can make a run to L3."

"Heliopolis!"

"The remnants might have some supplies we need at the moment and it's also out of the way of all the other LaGrange Points," she explained.

"Good point. All right, one last attack and we'll head towards Heliopolis," Kisaka replied before disconnecting the communication.

Murrue heaved a long sigh before turning to the rest of the crew, "We're going back into the battle. Prepare Valiants and Helldarts! Target the _Isis_!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

WAHAHAHAAHAH! Okie, I am planning evil thoughts in store for our characters. This chapter was made possible because of two contributing factors. My muses and the fact that SEED DESTINY has had two cool episodes in a row! I'd like to thank the readers so much for supporting me in this fic and you all will be credited when I finish this mini monster. After this fic, there will be two others, a prequel and a sequel to Entropy Rising. Remember, this is the AU-sequel. Oh yes, I'm also going to be working on other fanfic projects so please bear with me! Cheers!


	13. Reaction

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Thirteen – Reaction_

Cagalli bowed her head slightly as she tried to regain her composure. It had been a few minutes since the end of the broadcast by Patrick Zala and she felt very dizzy. She finally looked up at the assembled members of the Senate and tried to steel herself. All of them were either whispering to each other or staring at her. The media in the room were comparing notes and probably preparing questions for her.

"I apologize for that interruption," she began and was dismayed to hear her own voice quivering with anger and hurt. "I assume there are many questions you would like to ask of me and my country for what the lies Patrick Zala had said up there but one thing I would like to say is that he is not the real Patrick Zala."

She took a deep breath, "I was there when the real Patrick Zala was shot in Genesis and can verify my whereabouts." She noticed that all had gone silent at her words and she looked at each of them, "Don't let this broadcast break all that we've been working for all these years."

Cagalli couldn't take it anymore and stepped down from the podium, making a beeline towards her office. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ellie Statler and her aides quickly following her, all silent in wake of what had just happened. It was then that Cagalli started to feel tears streaming down her face and she took off at a run towards her car.

"Cagalli!" Ellie shouted behind her as she ran to catch up.

She ignored her bodyguard and slipped into the car, quickly shutting the door behind her before Ellie could get in. "Take me to Morganroete. Step on it," she ordered her driver and he sped off. She didn't even look behind as Ellie shouted at her, one hand covering her face from the dust generated by the car taking off.

All she could think about was what had happened…and more importantly why?

* * *

Athrun was too shocked to even do anything as soon as the speech was over and the vid returned to its normal programming, but he noticed that Andrew Bartfield had gotten up and locked the door to Lacus' office, preventing anyone from coming in.

"Well, that was an interesting speech," Andrew commented quietly as he grabbed a towel from Lacus' small kitchenette in her office and began to wipe away the coffee stains on the carpet while picking up the broken pieces of the mug.

"He's," Athrun started and found that it was hard to find his voice, "he's not…supposed to be alive…" He knew that his father's clone was alive and had kidnapped Kira, but to see him on the screens, making a live speech? That was just too much to comprehend right now.

"It would seem-" Andrew started, but was cut off as a call came through on the vid screen.

"Lacus," it was Yuri Amalfi's face and he looked worst for wear, "the Supreme Council's been called into an emergency session. They're requesting your presence there along with Athrun's, Captain Barfield's, and the assassin's."

"Griever!" Athrun exclaimed. "What for?"

"I don't know, but it's probably something to do with his connection to Patrick Zala and probably his speech," Amalfi replied.

"Yuri, who called the meeting?" Lacus asked in a quiet voice and Athrun noticed that she looked pale, but her eyes shone with determination.

"Louise Leitner and Ezalia Joule," Amalfi replied.

"All right," Lacus nodded, "I'll be there in a few minutes."

The comm. shut off and Athrun watched as Lacus closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again, "Captain, please tell the _Eternal_ to stand-by."

"Lacus?" Andrew looked confused.

"I just have a bad feeling about something," she replied before getting up and walking to her desk where she began to stuff a few papers in a folder along with a couple of datapads and datachips.

"You don't think it's a trap do you?"

"It most likely is. After the speech, the Supreme Council will want to hold us for further questioning," Lacus finished packing the things in the folder and handed it to Bartfield and repeated her earlier statement. "Please have the _Eternal_ on stand-by."

"Shouldn't I accompany you to the meeting?" Andrew frowned at her.

"I will be fine, Captain," she replied before giving them a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "We should go," she said.

Athrun reluctantly got up and followed both Bartfield and Lacus out of the door. Pink-chan was hopping alongside Lacus when they reached a fork in the direction to the Supreme Council chambers, the hanger bay, and the prison cells. He watched as Lacus knelt down and told Pink-chan to go with Bartfield to which the robotic ball blatted a rude comment before Bartfield left them.

They continued to walk to the prison cells and the guard let them in, having been given an advanced notice that Griever was to be brought before the Supreme Council members. When they reached Griever's cell, a sudden urge gripped Athrun and he wanted nothing more than to beat the living crap out of the assassin. He wanted to place all the blame of what had just happened on the assassin, but he also knew that Griever had told them a lot of information.

He curled his fist tightly for a few seconds before releasing the tension and letting out a quick breath, steeling himself to stay calm. To get worked up over such a trivial thing at the moment was pointless.

"Did you enjoy his speech?" Griever had the vid set in his cell on and had no expression his face.

"The Supreme Council requests your presence, Nikolai," Lacus said as a guard opened the cell door and Griever stood up, holding his hands up to let them be bound.

"Then I guess it's time to go meet them," Griever shrugged his shoulders and allowed himself to be escorted out of the cell.

Athrun still couldn't really wrap the concept of Griever being so docile instead of the assassin he had seen. He half expected him to lash out and run away, but instead the boy who was Kira's clone-brother allowed himself to be treated like this. It made him wonder if Griever had some sort of ulterior motive for being so cooperative, especially with Lacus. Still, he kept a sharp eye on the assassin. If he made any moves to hurt Lacus…

As they headed towards the Supreme Council chambers in silence, he couldn't help but stare at the guards that were escorting them – or rather escorting Griever. Would the Council really detain them and have these same guards arrest them? Would they actually believe a word of what Patrick Zala said? He hoped that his hunch wasn't correct, but he did have a very bad feeling about all of this. Even Lacus' remark about them probably being detained didn't help.

He wished he had been allowed to carry some sort of weapon to protect Lacus, but no weapons were allowed in the Supreme Council chambers. When the news of Eileen's assassination by her own weapon in her office was revealed, an immediate ban on any and all weapons by Councilors was enacted. Only the guards were allowed to carry their rifles and weaponry.

They entered the Council chambers and Athrun followed Lacus as she sat down in the chair that Eileen had once occupied. He stood behind her, ever watchful of the guards and the council members faces. Griever was brought to the head of the table where he had a direct line of vision to the other end where Louise Leitner, acting-Surpreme Chairwoman sat, a neutral expression on her face.

"I assume all of you have seen the speech Zala made?" Louise began the meeting without any formalities.

There were murmurs of agreement before she raised her hand for silence again and turned to Lacus, "Representative Clyne, I apologize if there had been any doubt on any of our part in the words that you've told Eileen that Patrick Zala was back. But this speech he made casts so many doubts…" she let the rest of her words hang.

"What doubts, Ms. Leitner?" Lacus asked, giving her a simple stare, "surely you do not believe the words he is saying?"

"But there's still no proof that he is responsible for Genesis," Louise replied, "and so we must consider the facts that have been presented to us. You claim one thing and yet he claims another. We have to find the truth."

"Louise, you can't be serious," Amalfi interjected, shaking his head, "you're actually saying that you don't believe Lacus! After all that she's done for us! For PLANT!"

"Well, she did lead an insurrection against ZAFT and took two of the most powerful mobile suits during the war two years ago. Not to mention she also took the Eternal and the METEOR systems," Orson White said in an offhand matter.

"She did that to stop the war," Amalfi shot back, his brows furrowing in anger.

"She confused the sides!" White shouted at Amalfi.

"There were no sides! We were going to get eliminated by either Zala or the Earth with their devices! There were no sides, but Lacus and her allies were able to destroy the Genesis and the nuclear weapons the Earth had!"

"Oh please," White rolled his eyes, "Genesis took out many of the nuclear weapons and ships before a third salvo could be fired."

"Genesis is an abomination, Orson, it's a weapon of hate and you're telling me that you supported it!"

"We all did if you've noticed," both Amalfi and White glared daggers at each other. "And I do seem to recall that you were under suspicion for bombing the Earth Senate just weeks ago. Tell me Amalfi, what made them clear the charges? Could it be that you actually am in league with Zala's clone?"

Amalfi shot out of his so fast that Athrun recoiled slightly. "How dare you," he started in a low voice, "I was acquitted of those accusations long ago. _He_ can prove it," he jabbed a finger at Griever who, like the rest of the Council had been watching the exchange with either embarrassment or mild interest. Griever, however, had a smirk on his face.

All heads turned to Griever who shrugged and his smirk inched wider. "Oh, now I'm the center of attention," he raised an eyebrow in humor.

"Can you prove it!" White ignored his attempt at jesting, "Because I sure as hell don't believe any of it."

"Oh I can prove it," Griever raised his bounded hands up in a gesture; "I can prove the good Senator's innocence. It's simple, really; because my previous self was assigned to him as an aide. And I was the one who bombed the whole place up." There was a hint of the evil grin that Athrun remembered so well and he tensed slightly.

All members except for Lacus and Amalfi gasped at the statement. Even the guards automatically drew their weapons and pointed them at Griever who just smiled.

"What do you mean your previous self?" Ezalia finally asked after a few minutes of tense silence before they realized he wasn't going to do anything drastic.

"Simple," he turned to her and smiled, "I'm also a clone."

"What!"

"Didn't you hear the speech Zala made?" Griever shrugged, "he said that his clone was the one who operated Genesis and destroyed countless of lives. He also said that his clone suffered from the side effects of degeneration and madness that was once thought to be myth, but is now proven."

"It's not been proven," one of the Councilors countered.

"Actually it is. Ask him, he killed me, or rather, my previous self, during the takedown of the Talon at L4," Griever pointed to Athrun and he blinked as all eyes were now trained on him.

"Sven Anderson the leader of the Talon was experimenting with cloning process. Apparently, he received the DNA of some Coordinator and was able to clone him," Athrun tried to be as vague as possible. He knew that he was in a precarious situation where any slip of words would bring the Council members one step closer to figuring out Mendel Colony's secrets.

"How did he acquire this technology? Was it at the L4 colony?" Ali Kasim, representative of January City asked and Athrun thought he saw a brief hint of warning in Ezalia Joule's eyes before he turned to face the councilmember that had addressed him.

"I wouldn't know. The colony was decrepit when we went in to destroy the Talon. I think the clone of Patrick Zala would know better."

"Then why chose L4 as a base?" Kasim persisted.

"Why not? It's out of the way and one wouldn't go poking for anything in it. Even though the Clyne Faction and ships used it during the war two years ago, it still was pretty decrepit. See," Griever smirked, "that's the problem with you peoples. You don't think like we do. You only see what you want to see and that's why we terrorists, as you call us, always end up getting the upper hand."

Athrun was very surprised that Griever hadn't taken the opportunity to tell everyone Kira's secret. He wondered what the assassin was up to…

"Then what is your connection to Patrick Zala?" Louise asked.

"Simple, I'm his assassin," the assassin smiled wolfishly, "and before you say anything else, your plan might have worked except for one thing."

"Plan!" Louise looked appalled and Athrun tensed, sensing something big was going to go down, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Actually you do. How come you've surrounded the whole Council with your own personal guards?"

"I did not," Louise narrowed her eyes and Athrun looked around. Indeed there were an awful a lot of ZAFT guards, now that he noticed. He had dismissed it before as those guarding against Griever attacking anyone, but now…

"You've also bribed the Council to do your bidding. You've already convinced them that Patrick may be correct in his statements against Lacus Clyne. You've just only called Ms. Clyne, Athrun Zala, and Yuri Amalfi here just so you can go through the motions and pretense before arresting them."

"That's preposterous," Louise's eyes blazed with anger.

"Oh," Griever held up his bound hands, "These don't really work that well." With a flick of his wrists the binders that were holding his hands together snapped off and Athrun's mouth fell open as he saw a wild uncontrollable look appear on Griever's face. He was still unused to the fact that Griever looked almost exactly like Kira and it unnerved him.

The next thing he knew, Griever had appeared next to one of the guards on the other side of the room and disarmed him. It was almost as if he teleported, but that wasn't possible, Athrun reasoned as he watch the assassin take the gun he had acquired and shot the guard next to the first one.

"Arrest and restrain him!" Louise shouted as the rest of the Supreme Councilors ducked in their chairs as the guards opened fired on Griever who was zipping from place to place, taking out the guards.

Athrun hovered over Lacus' bent form, intent on protecting her from any stray bullets when he noticed that some of the guards had come towards them, weapons drawn and pointed. With a start, he realized Griever _had_ been telling the truth. This was all a farce…nothing more than a ruse to get them here and then promptly arrest them. It didn't matter what he or Lacus said, they were going to be held because of one simple speech that divided the council.

"Please come with us peacefully," the lead of the three guards that approached them said.

Athrun gritted his teeth and stood firm, hands raised in a defensive position. He wondered how he was going to take out all three guards with machine guns when suddenly, the lead guard jerked back and fell to the ground, the hilt of a knife sticking out from his forehead. That was all the opening he needed and Athrun dove towards the guard to his left.

He quickly kicked the guard's wrist, breaking it and the guard yelled in pain before letting go of the machine gun. Athrun scooped up the gun and pointed it at the guard, firing a burst at the guard's chest before turning around and firing another burst at the other guard, killing him too.

"Lacus!" he shouted, turning around and extending his hand to her to which she took before nodding thanks to Ezalia who was mouthing to them to go. He realized that she had thrown the dagger and knew that while Louise claimed to have the whole Council turned against the Clyne Faction, they still had allies like Ezalia and Yuri. He pulled her towards him and ran for the exit.

"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Louise shouted over the gunfire as he and Lacus ran. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Griever making his way towards them, his eyes still wild and uncontrollable, but slowly taking down almost all of the guards in the room.

Athrun fired at the control panel to the door and the door hissed open. "Griever!" he shouted back towards the assassin who slashed the throat of a guard before running towards them.

"Go, go!" the assassin waved them on before sweeping a machine gun around, deterring anyone to follow them before he too ran out of the opened exit. Athrun still didn't trust the assassin, but for now…he placed a small measure of trust in Griever to get them out of this fiasco as safely as possible.

Athrun didn't know Aprilius One that well, but he knew it well enough to get to a few auxiliary hanger bays that his father had used during his tenure on the Council. The main hanger bay was where many would expect them to go, but they would take the roundabout way and hopefully link up with the _Eternal_ on their way out.

They occasionally stopped and listened for the sounds of guards passing by before proceeding on. Luckily, they didn't encounter anymore guards and made it to one of the auxiliary shuttle bays. Athrun thumbed on his comm. device and set it to the _Eternal's_ channel. "_Eternal,_ this is Athrun. Lacus is safe and we're taking one of the shuttles out. What's your position?"

There was a moment's pause before Andrew Bartfield's voice came back, "Good to hear you kid. There's been news that a shootout happened in the Supreme Council chambers and we were worried. We're waiting for you."

"Roger that, Athrun out," he put away the device before glancing behind to see Griever, eyes still wild, staring back at him.

"You could have shot us in the back while we were running," he said.

"There was once a time I would have," Griever replied seriously, "but things…have changed."

"Changed?" Athrun was confused.

Griever gave a little shrug before opening the door to the hanger bay and looking around, gun pointed for any signs of the enemy. Seeing none, they all ran towards the shuttle and got on board. Athrun made his way to the cockpit and flipped on a variety of switches, starting up the shuttle. Meanwhile, Griever sat next to him in the co-pilot's chair and opened up a computer terminal. His hands began to fly all over the keyboard.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting us out of here. If you hadn't noticed, this is a shuttle and we don't have weapons to blow the bay doors open. I'm hacking into the controls for that and opening them manually."

"Oh," Athrun felt a bit stupid for asking such a question, but continued with prepping the shuttle. "Lacus," he turned to see her sitting in the one of the back seats, a grim expression on her face, "do you know where Captain Bartfield's going to be waiting for us?"

"He's pulling out the same time we are," Lacus replied.

"Got it, let's get the hell out of here," Griever replied just as the doors they had came from burst open and a horde of ZAFT guards wearing spacesuits came pouring out, firing at the shuttle.

The hanger bay doors opened and Athrun punched the acceleration on the shuttle, hearing the distant pinging of bullets bouncing off the hull of the ship. They pulled out of the hanger bay and sure enough, the pink-painted _Eternal_ was waiting for them. Athrun weaved into the opened hanger bay and it closed beneath him.

"You two should get to your Gundams. They'll probably send mobile suits after us," Lacus said as they unbuckled their belts and headed out. "Athrun, wait," she put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him as Griever continued out and headed towards the pilot locker room to suit up.

When they had captured Griever he had also told them that he had a Gundam that had been hidden in one of the unused docking bays. Lacus had ordered his Gundam, the Ragnarok to be docked in the _Eternal_.

"Lacus?" Athrun asked, staring at her.

She pulled something out of her jacket pocket and placed it in his hand. It was a round cylindrical thing with a single button on it. "This is to keep Griever at bay. I trust him, but I know how you feel about him. If you see that he does anything unusual at all, you may use this," she said in a quiet voice.

He stared at her and realized that she trusted Griever completely to protect her, but she also knew how the others felt. It was a measure of her own trust that she placed in him and to also protect him. He never realized that until now…

"I'll watch out for him," he promised before hugging her briefly and leaving her at the hatch of the shuttle. He floated up towards the pilots' locker room, and found Griever almost finished changing into a jet black flight suit. Athrun didn't say anything as he opened up his own locker and quickly changed into his red flight suit.

"My part in this whole plan was to keep you and Ms. Clyne from escaping the Supreme Council room," Griever suddenly said as he fiddled with the air tight clasp of his suit before adjusting his helmet. "That was the plan. Leitner and White were already part of Zala's plan and I was only there to ensure that they made it happen."

"So why didn't you?" Athrun asked, curious.

"Originally it was just you and Captain Bartfield. Ms. Clyne was supposed to be dead already along with Yuri Amalfi and Ezalia Joule. When I decided not to kill Ms. Clyne, I had resolved to protect her with my life," Griever shrugged and fitted his helmet over his head.

"Why? You could have easily killed Lacus and taken me out, but why?" Athrun also placed his helmet on his head and secured it.

"That's for you to figure out," Griever gave him a smirk before heading out the door, leaving Athrun behind, a bit bewildered.

* * *

Lacus entered the bridge, floating towards her command chair as Andrew turned around and nodded a greeting to her. "What's our status?" she asked as she belted herself in and looked around.

"The _Currie_ and _Da__ Vinci_ are pursuing us. We've got at least two squadrons of mobile suits headed our way. What's our course heading?" Andrew asked.

Lacus touched a few buttons on the side of her seat and brought up a full map of the Earth sphere and LaGrange points. "How are the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_ and the rest of the LF fleet?"

"I've gotten a few reports saying that many of our ships are detained at various ports and their crew are arrested. It seems that the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_ managed to disable the ships at Mendel and are now on a vector towards the remnants of Heliopolis," Andrew replied.

"Then that's where we'll head. If anyone follows we can lose them in the Debris Belt before we head to Heliopolis," Lacus replied.

"Roger that ma'am," Andrew smiled before turning to the rest of the crew, "All right, set heading twelve-one-Alpha. We're going into the Debris Belt. Secondary heading at Nine-two-Delta."

"Aye sir," DaCosta replied from his station.

"Sir, _Currie_ and _Da__ Vinci_ firing missiles!"

"Evade!" Andrew shouted and the first rumbles of battle shook the ship.

"Athrun Zala, Justice, launching!" Athrun's voice burst over the ship intercom.

"Griever, Ragnarok, taking off!" Griever's cold voice also came over and the two Gundams flew out of the _Eternal's_ docking bay.

"What!" Andrew looked shocked.

"Griever is with us, Captain," Lacus met his shocked gaze with an unflinching one. "If you worry, I've given Athrun a means to destroy him."

"Huh," Andrew didn't look convinced but turned around and began issuing more orders.

Lacus just hoped that her faith in the assassin was not misplaced.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I had misspelled Cagalli's aide's name. It's not Riley, it's Ellie Statler as in previous chapters. Argh. Too many women to keep track of. I changed it in CH 10 and in this one to Ellie instead of Riley. Sorry for those who are confused. Anyways, thank you so much for keeping up with this fic and more chapters on their way soon!


	14. Escape

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Fourteen – Escape_

Cagalli half-walked, half-ran down the darkened corridors of Morganroete, her feet taking her to the mobile suit area where she kept her Strike Rouge. She was telling herself that she wasn't escaping from her problems, but a part of her felt like she should stay and reason with the council. For the first time in a while, she didn't know what to do. All she knew was that she had to get into space and reassure herself that it was nothing more than a dream.

But then why was she running to the Strike Rouge?

She stopped and rested against one of the walls, her left hand curled into a fist. "Kso!" she cursed in Japanese as she squeezed her eyes shut. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. How did those fools in the Senate believe the lies Patrick Zala had spewed out? Were they so dense as not to remember what had happened two years ago? Did they not remember that Zala had been the one to built Genesis, clone or no clone, and fire the damned weapon at the moon and nearly at the Earth? Did they not realize that he was the one who was behind the Genesis on Junius 7 and at Mendel?

Heaving a deep sigh she continued on to her mobile suit. She knew that if she stayed in Orb then the investigation would get worst and she would be branded a traitor. She knew that her place was in space right now, where the _Archangel_, _Babylon_, and perhaps the _Eternal_ if she was lucky to get away from PLANT was. She had to show the world with her presence amongst those ships that they are no threat.

Tapping a few buttons on a control panel, the doors to the next room hissed open and the lights went on, illuminating the Strike Rouge in a giant hanger bay. She glanced up at her mobile suit and narrowed her eyes. Words were no more use to her…she had to act.

"Princess Cagalli!" a few of the technicians who had been in the hanger looked at her in surprise before bowing to her slightly.

"Is my suit space worthy?" she asked, wondering how she was going to get enough power to past the Earth's gravitational force.

"With its own power pack no," one of the technicians came over to her before briefly whispering in her ear, "we are with you Princess. Not everyone in Orb thinks you are traitor. We Orb people are outraged at the accusations Zala throws at us."

"Thank you," she nodded, "so, tell me how can I go?"

"We've recently completed the specs to a booster pack that we were going to try on a few of the Astrays, but your need is far greater at the moment," the technician replied, "we can couple it to the Strike Rouge, but it would only give you enough power to get into space."

"Sir! Ma'am!" one of the other technicians suddenly ran over, "word is the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_ has disabled the fleet at Mendel and are now on the run. Heading is unknown. The rest of the ships have been detained at their ports. No word from the _Eternal_."

"Thank you," Cagalli said before the technician returned to what he was doing. She turned to the head technician and tilted her head, "So finding them would be another problem."

"Yes ma'am," the head technician bowed his head, "I'm sorry ma'am."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" a new voice interrupted them and Cagalli turned, puzzled as to who the woman walking towards them was. She wore the rank of a Lieutenant in the LF Fleet, but Cagalli couldn't place her.

"Lieutenant Leah Andrews, Princess," the woman stuck her hand out, "I am the current captain of the _Kusanagi_ in light of the previous captain's departure."

Cagalli shook hands with Leah, wondering if the woman was in league with Quinn. She knew that the crew of the _Kusanagi_ was tight, many of them adoring Quinn Misali. Still, she found it a bit too convenient for the woman to be right here at this moment.

"I know you don't trust me and are probably wondering why now? When it seems so convenient at the moment, but let me try to assure you that I mean you no harm. I mean to take you to the hiding spot of the _Babylon_ and the _Archangel_," Leah said.

"And bring both ZAFT and OMNI down upon the LF?" Cagalli replied, a bit sarcastically.

"Princess, believe me when I say this, Captain Misali's abrupt betrayal tore at us. We couldn't fire on him because he was our captain and for him to do such a thing made us realize that if he was willing to do something like that then why not have the rest of the crew betray and turn the _Kusanagi_ over to Patrick Zala's forces. When we returned to Orb, you had subjected us to searches for betrayal and we took that in stride. We too were shocked and knew that it had to be done. We hold no regrets for your actions and if I were you, I would have done the same thing," Leah emphasized her point.

"But please, believe me when I say this. No matter where the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_ hide, they will eventually be found. I offer you my ship and its personnel for one last mission for the sake of peace. After we take you to the ships, you may do whatever you want with us. We will not hesitate if you kill us or tell us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of peace."

"I would never do such a thing," Cagalli narrowed her eyes, a bit angry at the woman for insinuating that she was going to order the deaths of a crew.

"Princess, Orb was my home. I grew up here. I knew the sacrifices that your father made during the war two years ago. Captain Kisaka and your father didn't tell you this for your own safety, but I was part of the Orb Black Ops to guard the safety of your life."

Cagalli's eyes widened with surprise. She had heard rumors of Orb having their own Black Operations, but they were just rumors. Ledonil didn't really mention it, only in passing, but now as she looked at Leah, she realized she had seen the woman before; only a bit different. First off, her hair wasn't long and black, it had been a vibrant blue and she always kept it short. Andrews had been part of her security detail when she was younger and only gave her name as Hoshi for the shooting star that was tattooed on the inside of her left wrist. She had suddenly left her detail after only two weeks on the job, but she remembered the blue hair and tattoo.

"Hoshi?" she asked tentatively and Leah smiled broadly before turning over her left wrist and there was the small shooting star, still as bright as ever.

"Now do you trust me?"

"How do you know where the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_ are?"

"Ledonil has a way of getting messages to the rest of the former Black Ops team. On my own life, I will protect you and get you to your destination safely," Leah bowed her head.

"Then I accept," Cagalli replied formally.

* * *

Athrun twisted the Justice around and slashed downward with his double beamed saber, cutting the GuAIZ in half. He wasted no time and cut down two other GINNs who were aiming for him before ducking behind a debris pile to avoid being shot at by three other GINNs. 

Farther away, the _Eternal_ was battling it out against two _Laurasia_ and _Nazca_-class that had pursued them into the debris field. There had originally been four ships that were pursuing them, but two of them had been destroyed by the debris field. The _Eternal_ was a fast ship and was excellent at maneuvering inside of the debris field, unlike the slower _Laurasia_ and _Nazca_-class ships.

They initially outran many of the ZAFT patrol ships and only happened upon this one who had been conducting their own investigation into the Genesis on Junius 7. Though Athrun felt a bit sorry for killing the pilots of the mobile suits who were just only acting on orders, he still knew that many of them had been swayed by Zala's words.

What appalled him the most was why they had been swayed. It was easy for many to barely remember what happened two years ago and to accept lies all over again. People alone were intelligent enough, but group them all together and the relative IQ went down as a whole.

He popped out of his hiding place and charged at a group of five GINNs. Twisting his beam saber around he decapitated one in the head while bashing another with his shield before skewing him. Both suits exploded, but Athrun was beyond them already, tackling the three other GINNs. He cut them from the waist and the three exploded.

"_Eternal_, what's your status?" he called over the comm. as he flew towards the pink-painted ship.

Just as he said the words, he saw the _Eternal_ fire its beam cannons and hit the _Nazca_-class ship dead on. The ship sputtered for a few seconds before it exploded, sending debris flying everywhere. Athrun raised his shield to protect his own suit while he made a beeline towards the _Eternal_. He noticed Griever's mobile suit, the Ragnarok heading towards the last enemy warship, intent on taking it out.

Deactivating his beam sabers, he took out his beam rifle again and fired a few shots, hitting two GuAIZ who were trying to fire upon the _Eternal_. They exploded and he turned to see Griever's beam anti-ship sword and slice right through the bridge of the _Laurasia_-class ship. He backed away and the ship exploded moments later.

"That's the last of them," Griever's face popped up in a small communication square on the upper right hand corner of his main screen. The black-silver-painted Ragnarok flew towards him as the Eternal opened its docking bay to let them in.

"We're all right over here. Head back to the ship," Bartfield's face appeared on his left hand corner screen. "We've gotten a tight beam transmission during the battle on the whereabouts of the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_ and are headed there."

"Where are they?" Athrun asked, curious.

"At the remnants of Heliopolis," Bartfield replied.

* * *

Keiji Yamato tapped a few buttons on the keyboard in front of the computer he had been working on. His role as Riley Onoko's assistant, she had provided him the log-in and password to all things pertaining to Kira and the experiments that were conducted. He had browsed through the initial information and nearly threw up whatever lunch he had. A dark anger had clouded his mind ever since. Zala that bastard and Dr. Madison Francis the bitch, what they did to Kira… 

After Riley had gotten them in they had each been assigned different position within Zala's group. He stayed with Riley, partially to keep an eye on her (he still didn't trust her completely), partially to get all the scientific information on Kira for his wife. Yzak had been assigned to guard detail for Zala and since he had dyed his white hair completely black, he looked very different so hopefully Zala didn't recognize him. Dearka was assigned another guard station, and Riley had made it so he was in the control room, watching the cameras.

Though it seemed a little too convenient for Keiji's tastes, he had to admit, Riley was good to her word so far. It had been four days since he had seen his son with such a feral look on his face and he still didn't believe such a look could exist. It had also been six hours since Patrick's announcement and Keiji had passed on a coded message to change the plan he, Yzak, and Dearka had come up with. With this new development, they had get Kira out of Zala's clutches before anymore damage could be done.

What was mentioned on occasion by Riley was an Operation Helio that had taken effect in two phases, before and after Zala's speech. There were no notes on the Operation, but Keiji knew that it had been bad and Kira was probably part of it. He typed in a few more commands and checked around him to make sure that no one was looking at what he was doing.

He was in the labs two hours before the start of his shift and the night guards had asked what he was doing here and he gave them the reason that Riley had assignments for him that he wanted completed before Dr. Madison came in for the day. They had taken the bait and the security cameras that had been placed in the room he was in had been disabled, the video showing just a loop – all thanks to Dearka's careful manning of the guard station.

He hoped Yzak was fairing well with his part of the mission. Yzak was supposed to assassinate Zala before the whole base woke up and started their daily routine. Then just as the base was waking up they were going to make their escape. Dearka had assured him that Kira was still in his room, unconscious and fed with an intravenous line.

Keiji glanced at the clock on the computer and noted that he was running a bit behind schedule. He hadn't expected so many files and it was why it was taking so long to copy everything to disk. Finally the computer beeped quietly at him telling him the copy had finished. He popped the disk out and inserted another disk before typing in a few commands.

The computer shut itself down and Keiji took out the other disk. He knew he had been considered by Zala when he was first hired to be almost-Coordinator like for his abilities and he had been tested to see if his genes had been altered, but Keiji knew that it was only his natural talents that made him the envy of all. He didn't need his genes altered and Zala was a fool not to see that. Well, Zala was also a fool for not completely researching his whole background for that first hire.

He had given Zala a special gift…and it either required the time or needed to be turned on to work. Hiding a smile behind a cough, he headed out of the room, waving a goodbye to the other scientists in the room. Turning down a hall, he headed towards the commissary which was close to the guard station Dearka was stationed in. It was time to put their plan into action.

Knocking on the door to the guard station he poked his head in and saw Dearka manning one of the stations, chatting with another guard, looking totally at ease within his position. He had to admit, he had his doubts about the two young Coordinators, but they had proven his doubts to be wrong.

"Something we can do for you?" one of the guards asked and Keiji caught Dearka flicking a gaze towards him. He tilted his head subtly before making it look like he was looking around.

"No, just wondering if Dr. Madison stopped in yet," he said. He had found it from Riley that Madison had made it a habit to stop in the guard station to check on the cameras that were monitoring Kira every day.

"Nope. Think she's still in the commissary," one of the guards replied.

"All right. When she does stop in, just tell her that Takeru Mouri stopped in, all right? I'm headed to the prisoner's cell to check on him and make sure his sedatives are still in for today's experiments," Keiji said before catching a small nod from Dearka who understood the coded words.

"Right sir," the guard nodded in acknowledgment and Keiji stepped out before heading down a series of halls towards Kira's cell-room. There were hardly any guards in sight, but cameras covered the halls. He knew that Dearka was now relaying information to Yzak and also providing a loop feed to the cameras surrounding Kira's cell.

He stopped in front of the door to Kira's room and looked around briefly before punching in the code he had memorized four days ago. The door hissed open and Keiji stepped in. He hoped that the cameras Dearka had been manning were on loop feed and prayed that there weren't any hidden cameras that they didn't know about. He walked over to his son's bed and knelt down, placing a hand on his forehead.

His son's skin felt very warm and Keiji narrowed his eyes. Was Kira running a fever? He touched his son's cheek and it too felt warm and the skin looked a little flushed. _Oh Kira…what did they do to you?_ Keiji's heart nearly broke at seeing his son lying on the bed, eyes closed…so vulnerable. It was also then that he realized his son wasn't really unconscious, but awake and was looking at him through narrow slit eyes. He blinked in surprise, wondering where he picked up such a skill before a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Even if he was running a fever, Kira still knew never to give up and to stay strong.

"Kira?" he asked in a quiet voice, "how are you feeling?"

His son's eyes opened wider and Keiji reeled back at the anger in them. He had never seen such angry eyes on his son and it surprised him.

"Who are you?" Kira asked.

Keiji hadn't changed his appearance at all when he took on the mission to find his son and kill Patrick Zala. What had made him such a great OMNI Black Ops officer was his ability to just blend in with any crowd and to look absolutely ordinary. He rarely needed to change his appearance and he had counted on the fact that Zala and Dr. Madison wouldn't recognize him since he only met them once or twice and that was years ago.

"Kira, don't you recognize your own father?" he asked.

His son's eyes narrowed as he searched his features; and after a few minutes the angry look faded away and was replaced by one of tearful relief and joy.

"Dad!" Kira half-sobbed in relief before Keiji embraced him tightly. He could feel the tears soaking into his shoulder as his son cried, but he patted him on the back. "It's all right, Kira. I'm here, don't worry," he whispered over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I-I thought you were-" Kira's muffled apologies came through and Keiji shook his head.

"It's all right, son. You don't need to apologize. I'm here to get you out," he interrupted him before releasing him, but held onto him at shoulder's length. "We're leaving right now, all right?"

"H-How!" Kira's eyes were still wide with surprise and he hastily scrubbed at the tears.

"Yzak and Dearka are also here," he said, giving him a small smile.

"But…I thought Yzak hated me…I killed one of his friends," Kira looked away as if remembering a conversation of sorts.

"They're actually on a separate mission, but our objectives are still the same. They're assigned to take out Patrick Zala. I'm only here for you," Keiji explained before letting go of his son's shoulders, "can you stand up? You seem to be running a fever."

"I feel a bit dizzy," his son admitted, but shrugged, "I can stand up. Anything to escape this hell hole."

"Then let's go," Keiji rescued carried his son up, "Dearka's got the cameras on a loop so we should be fine."

They walked to the door and as soon as he tapped the door to open the barrel of a gun greeted his face. Beyond that was the figure of Dr. Madison Francis holding the gun, "Going somewhere Takeru Mouri, or should I say, Keiji Yamato?"

* * *

Kira felt dizzy, lethargic, and most of all annoyed. He knew he had been running a mid-grade fever since he had been knocked out, but he couldn't remember the reason why he had been knocked out. The last thing he remembered was him talking to Richard in an interrogation room. He had gotten so pissed at the man, but he couldn't remember what had happened afterwards. He knew that he had somehow gone into seed-mode outside of the cockpit; he could feel the residual effects of his berserker rage, but for what reason he couldn't fathom. He also remembered having dreams of sorts…dreams that left him confused. 

He just wanted out of here and the last person he had expected to show up and rescue him was now trapped by that damned Doctor and a gun. He knew he could kick the gun out of her hand in a split second, but his body wouldn't cooperate with him. He felt so tired and so feverish that his equilibrium was thrown off completely. He was so glad that his father was supporting half of his weight even though he said he could stand on his own. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep away his pain and fever knowing that his father was here to protect him.

The annoyance grew and anger started to seep in. A part of him knew that the anger was bad. It was going to trigger something bad so he tried to tamp down on it, but it still leaked through.

"Going somewhere Takeru Mouri, or should I say, Keiji Yamato?" Dr. Madison asked, in a sickly sweet voice, gun pointed in their faces.

"Hmph," his father smiled, "I've only met you once yet you remember me. How many years ago was it Madison?"

Kira was surprised that his father had addressed the doctor in such a familiar fashion. His father rarely talked about his past and though he knew that he was in Black Ops with OMNI years ago, it was still a surprise.

"Twenty years ago," Madison smiled, all teeth, "twenty years ago since we've met."

"Yeah…you were Quinn's bitch weren't you? Still are since he's working for Zala?"

Madison flinched, "Shut up Keiji. You wouldn't know anything about what's between Quinn and I."

"Yeah, whatever," his father replied in an-almost casual tone.

Kira knew that there had to be some history between his father and the doctor, but he couldn't really do anything at the moment with Madison pointing her gun at them. He just settled for glaring at the doctor as his annoyance grew along with his anger.

"So are you going to shoot us or just let us pass, because if you aren't going to shoot, we have somewhere to be," Keiji asked in a pissed tone.

"Who says I'm going to shoot you? I'm only here until the guards arrive…and by the way, your man in the station trying to loop the cameras, uh-uh, not working, Keiji," Madison smiled as the sound of booted feet got louder and louder.

Kira sensed that his father wanted to try something to escape, but rescue carrying him prevented him to do so and so he eased his own body weight off of his father, ignoring the questioning look his father gave him before stepping to the side. Immediately, a wave of dizziness made him sway slightly, but he put all of his focus on keeping himself up right. He stood close to his father just in case flying bullets came his way.

"Are you actually contemplating trying something Keiji?" Madison asked, "your son doesn't look to good does he?"

Kira could feel the anger that had been gnawing at him grow larger and larger and his annoyance also rose. He was tired and sick. He wanted nothing more than to escape from this hell hole and he wanted that gun out of his face! When he blinked his eyes he was mildly surprised to see tendrils all around him. Except there was no red haze of anger…there was just only simple clarity and the will to do so. He didn't know what part of him knew so, but he knew that this was different than all other times he had the tendrils to work with.

The tendrils and something inside of him just told him to push the gun aside. That's all. Just push the gun aside and everything will be fine. He can return to normal and watch everything unfold.

Kira didn't know whether or not to listen to its instructions, but a part of him knew that this wasn't that bad. It wasn't evil like the other times. It was different. So he focused his gaze on the gun in Dr. Madison's hand and saw the weave around the gun. He reached out with his mind and pushed away the gun and with the next blink of eye, the tendrils were gone and time seemed to speed up.

He didn't realize it, but when he saw the tendrils, he had felt no dizziness from the fever, no pain from anything…just perfect clarity. Now his vision back to normal, he could feel the pounding effects of his fever and the pain that had suddenly crept up from all of the time he had been imprisoned. He realized that the perfect clarity had a detrimental effect on his body and everything washed over him.

Kira collapsed to the ground, unconscious, just as his father leapt into action.

* * *

Keiji saw Madison's gun move to his left and wasted no time charging into action. He quickly leapt towards her as she realized what had happened, but it was too late for her to bring the gun back on him. He slapped her gun arm aside and grabbed onto it, before putting his other hand on its barrel and quickly turned her wrist inward.

Her hand, twisted by the force accidentally pulled the trigger and Madison's eyes widened as a bullet tore through her rib cage and she collapsed to the ground just as Keiji pulled the gun out of her loosened grip, breaking her index finger in the process.

He pointed the gun at her fallen form, eyes narrowed. "You should have shot me when you had the chance."

"Keiji, don't-"

He didn't let her finish her sentence as he shot a bullet in her skull, killing her instantly. "That was for my first mission all those years ago. I should have killed you back then. And also for what you did to my son."

Keiji turned around and noticed that Kira had collapsed to the ground and from the looks of it, during the time he was disarming Dr. Madison. He breathed a quick sigh of relief that his son hadn't seen him murder a woman in cold blood. He didn't know what Kira would make of it, seeing his father in true colors, not Black Ops, but an assassin.

A bitter taste rose in his mouth and Keiji quickly swallowed against the bile threatening to pour out. He realized he was shaking mildly and knew that he hadn't killed a person in cold blood since he married Kanoko. Steeling himself to keep steady, he thumbed the safety of the gun on and stuck it in his belt in his back before kneeling down next to Kira, brushing his bangs away.

Kira's breath was shallow and he was pale and sweaty, his face more flushed than minutes ago. Keiji realized that his son's fever had gone up and he needed medication fast in order to stabilize the fever. He reached down and scooped his son up, draping him over his right shoulder, keeping his left hand free to use the gun. Being ambidextrous had its uses he admitted as he pulled the gun out of his belt and thumbed the safety off.

The sounds of the guards were getting closer and Keiji knew that he didn't have much time. The plan had been messed up and an alarm was about to be sounded. He remembered Riley telling them that the facility had shuttle bays and where to find them. Thumbing on a private comlink he had with Dearka and Yzak had spoke into it. "Code Riley, repeat, Code Riley."

That was the signal that they needed to meet in the shuttle bay and get the hell out of there. He hoped Yzak had accomplished his mission, but didn't dwell on it as he ducked into a hall and started running towards the shuttle bay, hugging the walls as much as he could with his son draped over his shoulder.

Keiji knew he was half way there when he rounded into a hall with three guards. "Wrong way," he commented softly to himself as the guards turned around and shouted at him. Firing his gun with uncanny precision, he killed two of them before the third one sounded the alarm. His third bullet pierced the guard in the navel and he dropped dead, blood pooling around his head in a morbid halo effect.

Rushing past them, he turned right down another hall and fired a few random shots at the guards over there, making them duck before they retaliated. He ducked into another hall and placed Kira gently on the ground before grabbing another clip he had hidden in his uniform and slammed the new one in. Glancing quickly to make sure his son was out of harm's way, he peeked out of the corner of the wall he had slid up to before ducking back as bullets pelted his area.

As soon as the bullets stopped, he peeked back out and fired a few shots, hitting a couple of the soldiers that were stationed between him and the door to the hanger bay. He ducked back and waited as bullets once again pelted the wall he was hiding behind. Suddenly the sound of booted feet over the din of machine guns firing behind him made him turn just in time to see four soldiers in a squad of six go down in a spray of fire. They had been trying to corner him, but two people now stood over the bodies, their faces obscured by their helmets.

"Looks like you needed help getting out of here Akuma," Riley took off her helmet and grinned at him while the person next to her also took off his helmet to reveal none other than Dearka who had a grim smile on his face.

"Thanks," Keiji shrugged before turning back to peek out of the corner and fired a few shots, just as Riley dashed across to the other side of the hall and ducked behind her own corner. She waited a couple of seconds before firing her gun, hitting a few more soldiers.

"Here, you might need this," Dearka suddenly said and Keiji turned around to see his son sitting up, eyes still glazed with fever and pain, but he looked coherent enough for now. Dearka had handed him a gun to which he took and nodded his thanks.

"No offense, Kira, but when Athrun sees you like this, he's going to have a shit fit," Dearka grinned crookedly at Kira.

The small chuckle of laughter from his son's mouth was like music to Keiji's ears as he quirked a smile before turning back to the matter at hand. "Where's Yzak?"

"I don't know. Last I saw him he was still with Zala," Dearka replied grimly.

"You think he could have been captured?" Keiji didn't know if they should wait for the white-haired man.

"Nah. If he was, he'd sooner try to escape than anything. Yzak's real good at this stuff. He's been doing it for the past two years so he should be fine," Dearka replied.

Keiji didn't say anything as he didn't want to dash the hopes of the young man. He knew that the two were best friends, but even so, he himself had over twenty years experience and there were times he had come close to being captured. Coordinator or not, missions like these were very high risk and even for a Coordinator, it wasn't just the skill, but also a combination of luck.

He peeked back out and fired three more rounds, pleased that all three connected with three different guards, taking out the last of the guards that had surrounded the door. "Let's go," he turned to Dearka and Kira, "Kira, grab on to my shoulder." He knelt down and helped his son up who was still swaying on his feet and rescued carried him as both Dearka and Riley took point.

They quickly entered the hanger bay when suddenly the door hissed shut behind them and a click was heard…the door locking. Keiji immediately knew something was wrong as soon as Riley spun around, gun pointed at them.

"What the…" Dearka was caught off guard.

"Don't even think of moving another step," Riley smiled maliciously at them, gun pointed straight at Keiji's face, "I have five snipers, all trained by Quinn Misali with their guns pointed at you. If you make one move, they'll fire. And that includes you too, Kira Yamato."

Keiji glanced down at his son and saw that his eyes had been turning into that same uncontrollable fury he had seen four days ago, but they returned to normal as soon as Riley spoke. He glanced up and saw the glint of sniper rifles above them in the catwalks of the hanger bay and realized Riley had not been bluffing…

"So that's why you knew my codename back in OMNI Ops," he commented softly, "no one knew that and Quinn sure as hell didn't tell anyone."

"Oh the only person he told was his family, me, his daughter," Riley smirked, "and like my father, I have no intention of betraying Patrick Zala."

* * *

Assassination wasn't Yzak's forte, but infiltration was and he could sense that something was wrong.

Right before Riley had taken them into the facility where she had assured them that it was the main hideout of Patrick Zala, she had given them their specific assignments. Apparently, she had gotten the information from both Lacus and his mother about their skills. He had been assigned to guard Patrick Zala, but also had to completely dye his hair to black so Zala wouldn't recognize him.

He didn't mind, after all, it was part of the job, but the fact that they were able to infiltrate Zala's hideout so easily and nearly on the first try worried him. He didn't voice his concerns, but he could also see it in the veteran Keiji Yamato. Though Yamato had a lot more experience than he did in the field of espionage and assassination, Yzak felt that he too had experience to compare with Yamato.

Even before they had the chance to report to their stations, there had been the alarm that a prisoner was escaping. While Yzak had little to no love for Kira Yamato, and was still angry that the boy had been the pilot of the Strike and had killed Nicol, he had to admit, when he saw Kira in his state, trying to fight off so many guards, he was very worried.

Just what the hell did they do to him in this place was beyond him, but also knew that Athrun and the others back in the LF were going to have heads roll when they found out. Still that was four days ago and Yzak knew that he was running out of time to kill Zala.

So far, the man had not recognized him, but it was nearly impossible to kill him at the moment with the other guards around. He had heard the code words Keiji had given them, a sign that things were getting bad and a few minutes later, the blaring of the general alarms. He tensed as did the other guards around before the order came to go pursue the escaping people. Yzak followed them, machine gun drawn before he quietly slipped out of the back of the ground and headed back to Zala's quarters.

He walked quietly, but quickly back towards Zala's quarters and stopped in front of the man's door. Having already been inside at least twice, he had memorized the layout and knew that Zala wouldn't head out to personally oversee the capture of the escapees. No, the man liked his comforts and preferred to stay as much as he could, out of harm's way.

Yzak keyed the door to open and stepped into the dimly lit office. He was very surprised to see Zala sitting there, unarmed, and staring at three lit screens.

"Hello Yzak," Zala glanced up from the screens and gestured him forward, "I was beginning to wonder if you weren't going to sneak in and assassinate me."

Yzak narrowed his eyes and lowered his gun slightly before cautiously stepping forward. He didn't know what kind of game the man was playing and wanted to take no chances. Ever instinct he had was screaming for him to kill him right now, but there was question he wanted to know and it seemed Zala was about to answer it.

"I let you in, all of you including Kira's father, because I wanted you to see what I was creating. I am trying to create a future, Yzak."

"Does that future include the tampering of Coordinators so they become psychotic killers?" Yzak asked.

"No, no, dear boy. No, nothing like that. I am trying to create a future where wars don't have to be fought. I wanted all of you to see that future in creation. And I want all of you to understand the true meaning of my Operation."

Zala paused for a few seconds before continuing, a smile on his face, "That future is now here." He tossed him a small disk to which Yzak caught it and stared at it. "That is the key to the future," Zala leaned back against his chair.

Yzak shifted his gun and pointed it at Zala's face, "Why should I believe you?"

"You must, Yzak, because," the clone moved a screen that showed the battle raging between his ships and the combined forces of OMNI and ZAFT at Colony Mendel. "Colony Mendel will move towards its final destination and the key to the future will be unleashed. You hold in your hand the power to stop the Colony from reaching its final destination. And even if you do kill me now, then the Colony will not stop. With that, you can stop it."

Yzak's eyes widened as he realized what Zala was saying and stared at the disk in his hand. He looked back at the man and saw the insanity in his eyes. There was no retribution for him, and he understood that he wasn't supposed to kill him. Zala would die, eventually, but it wouldn't be by his hand today. Someone else was meant to kill the psychopath.

He spun around and was about to leave before Zala spoke again.

"Oh Yzak, would you be so kind as to clean up a bit of a mess for me? Your friends are currently trapped by Riley Onoko in the hanger bay. I won't hinder your path, but she is a kind of a mess that I do need cleaned up before anything else."

Yzak snorted before heading out, running towards the hanger bay. He slipped the disk into the folds of his jacket before simultaneously taking out the sniper scope on the rifle he carried and attached it.

He would clean up this particular mess for Zala, but in the end, Yzak knew that the even bigger mess the man had created would have to be cleaned up by all of them.

* * *

The old adage, like father like daughter didn't really apply here, Keiji thought as he stared at Riley. He knew it the moment Riley had told them that she was betraying them. Sure she was Quinn's daughter, but she was nothing like her father. Quinn would have immediately killed them without even a warning, Riley was a bit flashier and he could only hazard a wild guess as to who was her mother and where did that personality come from.

"You know, she's dead," he tested her and saw her eyes grow with confusion before she smirked.

"I have no idea who you're even talking about," Riley said, her voice full of confidence.

"Actually, I think you do," Keiji replied neutrally, and watched as she began to sweat with fear, "you may be Quinn's daughter, but I knew your father long before and knew all about his relationships and history."

"Yeah, well, you didn't know him well enough to figure out he was going to betray you at Mendel," she shot back, fear now lacing her voice.

"Good point," Keiji conceded, "but it's not going to get you out of it. She's dead. Your mother, that is."

"You don't even know who she is," Riley snapped, the grip on her gun wavering slightly, "my mother is in the commissary right now eating!"

"Ah, so your mother works here," Keiji let a small smile on his face, knowing full well what his words were doing to her, "so she is here after all."

"No she isn't!" Riley vehemently denied, "shut up! I'll kill you!"

"You should have done that long ago, Riley," Keiji narrowed his eyes, "because I killed her with my own hands." He had a feeling that Madison Francis was the girl's mother and when her eyes showed the fear, he knew instantly that his gut instinct was correct. It wasn't hard really, to put two and two together, considering he knew of Quinn's various tumultuous relationships with women.

But to admit everything right in front of his son…a horrible feeling was worming its way through his gut. He didn't want his son to know the true extent of his actions during his time in OMNI's Black Ops. He never wanted his son to know that fact in of itself, but here he had to save them and in order to do so, he had to play a very nasty mind game with Riley.

His eyes glanced up and he noticed that the glinting of sniper rifles in the areas above weren't in their position anymore. In fact they looked to be a bit skewed… There seemed to be only one more sniper rifle that was pointing straight at them…and though his face didn't show it, he realized who had made all of those rifles skewed.

"She's not-" Riley never got to finish her sentence as the crack of the lone sniper rifle rang through the air just as the same time she spun and her feet lifted off of the ground a bit, her face wide with surprise at her own body's random movement.

The bullet pierced her in the middle of her forehead and she dropped lifelessly to the ground, surprise etched all over her face. Keiji just stood there, utterly confused. Why would…?

"I _had_ been aiming to disable," Yzak's voice came from where the sniper rifle had been and the formerly white-haired man was staring at them before leaping off of the area he was in and floated down towards them.

"She had to die," Kira's voice made him turn to see his son, his eyes wild and blazing with uncontrolled fury, his face a simple mask of impassivity. The alien eyes on his son made a shiver crawl up his spine. This couldn't be his son talking…it wasn't like him. It was too precise…too cold…too foreign. And he realized with terrifying clarity that somehow, his son had made Riley dance around like a puppet to face the bullet that had been a disabling shot.

"Who…are you?" Dearka asked, his gun not quite pointed at Kira.

Keiji watched in horrified fascination as his son's eyes receded from their uncontrollable look to one of confusion before his son collapsed to the ground, unconscious. He quickly picked up his son, marveling at how light he was, as the muffled sound of booted feet sounded from the other side of the door, telling them that more guards were on their way.

"Let's go," he ordered and the three of them dashed towards the shuttle. "We're you successful?" he called back to Yzak.

"No," the white-haired man replied and Keiji frowned.

"Why not!" he yelled back as he reached one of the shuttles and palmed it open.

"Unexpected complications, but I can assure you, he's the least of our worries at this moment," Yzak replied before moving past him to the cockpit, Dearka following him.

"This better be a good reason," Keiji muttered as he settled his son in one of the shuttle's seats, before moving off to find an emergency medical pack to bring his fever down. He still couldn't quite contain the shivers of uneasiness inside of him from what he had just witnessed.

"Oh it's good," Yzak heard his mutterings as he called back from the whine of the shuttle's engines, "Colony Mendel's going to be dropped on the Earth."

Minutes later, they escaped from the depths of Martius Eight.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Does anyone read this? Anyways, thank you so much for your patience in waiting for this chapter. I was about to divide it and post one per week, but decided to hold off and post this LONG chapter so you can read it without missing any beats. Very short Athrun and Cagalli parts, but pretty much we're starting on the home stretch. And yes, Kira is a bit messed up right now, but we'll see what his path takes. Next chapter might or might not be posted soon because I have classes and work starting soon! Thank you again and keep reviewing! Ah yes, any questions will be answered with an Author Q&A at the end of this story, so you may send them to me directly or on the reviews!


	15. Reunited

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Fifteen – Reunited_

Athrun knew that they weren't followed, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu all over again from the war two years ago. Except this time it wasn't Mendel they were hiding in, but in the remnants of Heliopolis that was slowly making its way towards the debris belt. He knew eventually as always, they would be flushed from this hiding spot – as there was no where else to go, but in the meantime he wanted to rest.

He sat in the _Archangel__'s_ commissary, having shuttled over from the _Eternal_ along with Lacus, Captain Bartfield, and Griever. Both ships were currently docked together along with the _Babylon_ and _Kusanagi_, held by supply lines that ran between the four ships. The remnants of Heliopolis swirled around them and while they were still able to salvage some supplies from the debris, Athrun had seen the pained look appear on the crew of the _Archangel__'s_ faces, especially that of Miriallia, Sai, and Murrue. He had realized that during the war two years ago, the crew of the ship did the same thing to the remnants of Junius 7 to keep themselves alive while they headed to JOSH-A.

The bodies they had encountered, though few since a majority of Heliopolis' inhabitants had made it to the escape pods, still haunted him. And he realized to some extent, some of the crew of the _Archangel_ came from Heliopolis. To go back home…to such ruin. Now they felt what he felt when Junius 7 was used as a launching platform for Genesis.

Sipping the tea he had made for himself a few minutes ago, he closed his eyes and bowed his head, listening to the quiet in the commissary. He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep as he found his thoughts wandering. With the latest development in Patrick Zala's plans, chasing all of the LF into hiding or imprisonment, he wondered how Yzak, Dearka, and Kira's dad, Keiji were doing on their missions. There had been no word or contact about their status and it had him worried. He was worried about what Zala would do if he captured them, and the most logical course would be to parade that they are traitors – in light of what had happened during his speech as he painted both Orb and the LF in a negative light.

But since there was no word of any sort, he had to hope for the best that they didn't get captured and were still in their mission to assassinate Zala and to rescue Kira. It had been five days since the _Eternal_ had arrived at Heliopolis…five days of doing nothing except watching the news and watching as civil war broke out among the Earth nations and various PLANTs.

The fact that civil war was happening made Athrun hopeful that not everyone had brought into Zala's words, but it was the civil war that also made him sad. It meant that the peace they had been fighting so hard for was deteriorating right in front of their eyes. Many of the pundits on the media broadcasts had wondered where did the LF gone while others called for the immediate disbandment of the independent military force and a swift retribution against Orb for deceiving them.

"Athrun?" Cagalli's voice broke through his dismal thoughts as he opened his eyes and turned his head to see her standing by the door to the commissary, dressed in the white-blue uniform with red pips that marked her as the Commander-in-Chief of the LF. "You okay?" she asked, coming in and sitting next to him.

"Yeah, just tired," he replied giving her a crooked smile, "can't sleep."

"Nightmares?" Cagalli asked, placing a hand over his.

Athrun shrugged, "Something like that, but its fine. It's the waiting that bugs me the most."

"I know what you mean," she replied.

When the _Kusanagi_ had first arrived to their hiding place, they had immediately been suspicious but as soon as Cagalli patched a call through them and told them that the _Kusanagi_ wasn't a rogue ship and she wasn't held against her will on the ship they had let it docked. Cagalli had vouched for the current acting captain, Lieutenant Leah Andrews for her own personal reasons and while Athrun still had his doubts, he trusted Cagalli's decision.

"Did you have a chance to look through the photos?" she asked and he wondered what she was talking about until remembered the package he had been handed from Murdoch right before they had launched the assault on Junius 7 to destroy Genesis.

He had opened it during the time he was traveling to Aprilius One to assist Lacus and had found a bundle of photos, not electronic ones, but ones taken with an old camera and film and it had various pictures of him, Kira, Cagalli, Lacus along with other people he had known all of his life. He had wondered where Cagalli had gotten the photos when he read her note and it said that she had contacted various people and asked them for copies of the photographs. She had also said that the photos were meant to tell him not to lose hope when the world is falling apart around him.

"Yes," he smiled at her, "and thank you. One question though, how did you find the photos of my Academy training?"

"Yuri Amalfi was kind enough to send me a few copies since his son Nicol was part of your class," Cagalli replied a grin lighting up her features.

"Oh," Athrun drained the rest of his tea, "thank you."

"Now, are you done moping around because you are going to take me for a walk this instant," Cagalli tugged on his arm and Athrun blinked in surprise, shocked at how she was acting.

"Cagalli?"

"I'm sick and tired of people moping around. I came up here not to run away from everything as I had originally thought, but up here so I can lead the LF and Orb to show the people that Zala's words are not to be trusted. And with you like this…" she dragged him to his feet and pulled him along the way, taking his empty mug and putting it into the cleaning tray before pulling him out of the commissary.

Athrun stumbled and followed along until he pulled his arm out of her grasp and shook some of the feeling back into it, "All right, all right. We'll walk," he agreed, figuring walking would help him with his insomnia right now.

They wandered an empty corridor for a while, just walking in silence, holding each other. It was soothing just being around her presence and he realized he had missed it so much during his time out in the front lines. And she was right, walking around just thinking of barely anything except that he was with her was calming his agitated mind down.

"Calm enough?" Cagalli asked as they wandered down another corridor and he realized that it was the crew's quarters.

"Yeah," Athrun smiled at her and placed a quick kiss on her cheek, "thank you Cagalli."

"You want me to stay while you sleep?" she asked quietly and Athrun felt a blush creep up his face. She must have noticed his expression to which she immediately flushed red, "no, no. Not like that, it's just that you've been tossing and turning…"

Athrun realized that she had been watching over him since she had arrived, concerned about his well being and he could only fathom that Kira's mother who had an uncanny eye noticing stress or fatigue, had told her his state of restlessness. He smiled at her flustered expression before giving into the impulse and silenced her with a long kiss on the lips.

His hand pushed the button to open the door to his room and he pulled her in the darkened room, never releasing her. Together, they fell onto the bed in a slight heap and he finally released her from the kiss, keeping his face centimeters away from her. Even in the dim light of the hall that was cut off when the door hissed closed; he noticed that her face was still flushed. "Stay, all right?"

She blinked a few times before nodding and he pulled her close to him, reveling in her warmth and presence. Breathing in her unique scent, he allowed his eyes to close and immediately, sleep came to him.

* * *

Griever didn't know what drew him towards Lacus Clyne, but he had felt safe in her presence and so always stayed near her, whether it was in the shadows of her room, watching her sleep fitfully, or shadowing her in the corridors. If she had minded his presence as he had made it known that he was following her, she didn't say anything and for that, he was grateful.

He wasn't in love with her, but he did feel a sort of motherly protection from her. There was also one other person that he had felt something towards a mother-son type of relationship and that was Kira Yamato's adopted mother, Kanoko. It had surprised him completely that when he finally met Kanoko again, she did not shoot him on sight. Instead, she had reacted with surprise, but when Lacus explained that he had defected, she had stared at him with a gaze that he found penetrating and it was as if she could read his whole soul.

It had unnerved him that such a woman could have such a gaze, but over the past few days, he had gotten used to the look and had come to accept that she was perhaps concerned about his well being. He had to admit, in his first body, he had totally underestimated her when he had captured her and Kisaka to bring to Sven Anderson.

She was a force of her own to be reckoned with. Whereas she wasn't the fighter that was her son or was she the assassin that was her husband, she was the brains behind the operation of sorts. Her knowledge was her power and in that way she was like Lacus, valuable and most vulnerable.

That was why he protected Lacus. That was why he refused the mission to kill her. Eileen and the others were a liability, but Lacus and Kanoko. They were the figures he had been missing in his life. He had felt such emptiness in his soul until he met them. They would be able to protect him from the demons that plagued him – the curse that was brought to life in Zala's labs. The demons that were unleashed by Zala, Madison Riley, and Sven Anderson. They weren't supposed to be unleashed, however unnaturally. They were supposed to be hidden and dormant; something that was accessed only when one realized that they had the power, not forced upon.

And this was the bane of his existence.

He was an assassin through and through and there was no changing that. So he sought comfort wherever he could. He wanted something to hold onto before he knew his short life was over.

Griever was living on borrowed time.

* * *

Lacus opened her eyes, having felt like she had gotten no sleep. She had been having restless dreams ever since they had escaped to Heliopolis. It was still completely dark in her temporary room aboard the _Archangel_, and she glanced at the digital clock that was set to military Zulu time. It was only three in the morning. She laid on the bed, staring up at the empty ceiling. She knew Griever was in the room, as he always had been since they reached Heliopolis. She didn't mind his presence, but only worried that he didn't get any sleep himself, guarding her.

The room she had been given was one of the few private single rooms, not the shared bunks like a majority of the quarters on the ship. "Are you awake, Nikolai?" she asked into the darkness.

"As always, Miss Lacus," he replied back, "you should be sleeping."

Lacus let a sad smile flit across her face before she turned to her side, "I should say the same for you, Nikolai. You stay to protect me, but what will happen if you should get tired and are unable to do so anymore?"

"My body and genes work differently, Miss Lacus. I am able to go without sleep for a long time," he said.

"Please don't lie to me," she said in a quiet voice, "you are human and need sleep like the rest of us."

He didn't answer her for a while until suddenly she heard a shifting of sorts near the door to her quarters. "Miss Lacus, why do you call me Nikolai?"

"Because Griever is only your codename."

"But it's my true nature."

"No, your true nature is not to grieve for those you have killed or couldn't save, but to live your own life. You told me yourself that you realized that you are an abomination, but yet you are human and humans have names. I call you Nikolai because that is your true name."

"You should get some sleep," if Griever had been touched by her words, he didn't show it and instead fell back into silence.

That silence was broken after a few seconds as a communication screen popped on next to her bed. "Lacus," Murrue Ramius' face appeared from the bridge and Lacus noticed that she had hastily dressed, probably woken up only a few minutes ago and rushed to the bridge. "They're here. And they have Kira with them."

Her eyes immediately widened in surprise. She felt as if a great burden had lifted off of her shoulders. "I'll be there immediately."

* * *

Athrun felt a pit of ice grow in his stomach as soon as he saw the medics rushing towards the slightly battered shuttle that was being brought down from the landing strip on the _Archangel_. Beside him, he felt Cagalli tense and squeezed her hand in reassurance, even though he was terrified himself. Was Kira all right? Did anything happen? A million thoughts, most of them unpleasant rushed through his head. As soon as the shuttle stopped, the medics rushed in and Athrun was going to follow them when just as suddenly then came rushing out, stretcher in between them, rolling towards the medical bay on the ship.

He was startled to see that it was Kira, unconscious and with a breather mask over his face, on the stretcher. "Kira," he whispered as he stared at his best friend's pale and sweat covered face. He felt Cagalli stifle a sob that threatened to come out of her before she grabbed onto his jacket. He automatically pulled her close to him and squeezed her tightly in reassurance, trying not break down himself. Glancing over to where Lacus stood alone, staring in wide-eyed horror at Kira's prone form, she looked up at him, and he saw the raw emotion of pain in her eyes.

He quickly made his decision and followed the medics out of the hanger bay, both Cagalli and Lacus trailing behind him. They followed the medics to the medical bay on the ship, before one of the suddenly turned around and stopped them. "Please, wait outside. We will give you updates on Mr. Yamato's condition." With that, the door to the medical bay closed, leaving all of them bewildered.

"Keiji, don't move so fast! You'll make it worst!" Kanoko's voice filtered down the hall and Athrun turned to see Kira's mother coming down the hall along with a slightly battered looking Keiji who was half dressed in the uniform of a ZAFT regular soldier, holding his side.

"I have to see him! They don't know what's been done to Kira!" Keiji yelled back, his voice full of pain, but his face a grim determination. Athrun's eyes widened in shock at Keiji's words. They had done something to Kira! The anger that had been simmering and building up ever since Quinn Misali kidnapped his best friend started to boil over and he clenched a fist to keep the anger in check. He wanted to either take Justice out and head towards Zala's hiding spot and destroy it all or beat the crap out of Griever right now. The clone of Kira must have surely known what was going on and it made him angry.

He forced himself to calm down as Keiji rushed past him and entered the med bay, his wife following behind only to be ushered out a few seconds later and the med bay door closing behind her.

"What now?" Cagalli whispered.

"We wait," he replied before sitting down on one of the many chairs in the hallway that led to the medical bay. This was one of the few hallways on the Archangel that even had chairs, but it had been designed like a regular hospital, except on a warship.

The wait was long, at least a few hours and Athrun had just started to nod off from lack of sleep when the medical bay doors opened and he jerked upright, nearly throwing Cagalli off of his shoulder. She had fallen asleep using his shoulder as a pillow, but was instantly wide awake as he shifted about. Across from him, Lacus had sat next to Kanoko who had been staring into a blank part of the wall, lost in her thoughts for the past few hours.

"Your son is stabilized, Mrs. Yamato. All of you may see him for a few minutes, though he's not awake yet," one of the nurses said before gesturing for them to come in.

Kanoko led the way while Athrun followed behind all of them. He was struck by how similar the Archangel's medical bay was to the hospital in Orb where Kira and Cagalli had resided after the bombing…just months ago. An involuntary shudder crawled its way up his spine and he shook off the feeling with a shake of his head.

As they entered Kira's room, Athrun noticed that Keiji was already there, sitting in one of the chairs. A cane rested near the wall and part of his forehead was covered by a bandage. Just what had happened on the mission? Both Yzak and Dearka were fine... He looked up as they entered and gave them a half-hearted smile.

"They just let me see him now," he said in a quiet voice.

Athrun peered around Keiji to find Kira was covered in a blanket all the way up to his neck and a breathing mask had been fitted over his face. A heart monitor was beeping out steady beeps while an IV line had been set up to feed him nutrition. But that wasn't what shocked him the most. His best friend had lost a lot of weight and it showed. His cheekbones were very prominent and his eyes were sunken in a little. _What did they do to you?_ He wondered to himself.

"I thought he just had a fever when I got him out of there," Keiji interrupted his musings, "looks like it's more than that…"

"Keiji…what did they do to him?" Kanoko asked, her voice high-pitched with worry.

Kira's dad shook his head, "It's bad…real bad." He reached into a pocket on his medical gown and pulled out a data disk and gave it to his wife. "It's all in here…and I think you should think about getting Ledonil's help on this. I wish Uzumi were alive…he would also know what to do…"

"What does my father have to do with this?" Cagalli suddenly asked.

"Cagalli…" Keiji looked very pained, "you don't-"

"Just tell me," Cagalli interrupted him in a hard, but calm voice. But through that calm, Athrun could hear the underlying worry and tension in it.

Keiji sighed and rubbed his face with a hand, "What that bastard did…Kira's changed. He's like some…other…person. If I were to hazard a good guess, Zala was trying to improve the Ultimate Coordinator and make him beyond what he is. A true Bezerker, except it would be permanent."

* * *

Kira floated in the darkness and embraced it. It was rare that he saw the darkness and a part of him knew that he was unconscious, perhaps even asleep. He cherished the darkness because he knew that when he woke up, there would only be pain and more torture waiting for him. He didn't want to go back to Zala's clutches in the waking world and so enjoyed the darkness.

_"Kiwa-kun!__ Wait!" Athrun's voice made eight-year-old Kira turn around to see his best friend running up to meet him, school bag flying about._

_"See, this time you're late. Ha! I'm not the only one who oversleeps, Affie-kun," he grinned at his best friend who stuck his tongue out at him._

_It had been a year since both had lost their front teeth, but they decided to keep the nicknames they gave to each other since that time as a teasing joke between the two. Together they walked to the school, crossing under the sakura trees that lined the road to the school._

_"I've been trying to build something since that robotics class," Athrun explained as they walked before he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small ball that was half complete._

_"What is it?" Kira's eyes gleamed as he wanted to take the thing and play with it. In his attention to the thing in Athrun's hand, he didn't see the start of the staircase that lead to the school and tripped and fell to the ground._

_"Owwie!" he cried out as he noticed a scrap on his knee. Immediately, tears came to his eyes and he cried._

_"Ahhh!"__ Athrun knelt down and rummaged through his bag once more, putting the half-completed robotic thing back in his bag before pulling out a fist full of bandages. His best friend was a klutz at times and cried so much. Quickly bandaging the scrape, he poked Kira in the shoulder._

_"Stop crying. There's a band-aid on it," he said and Kira sniffled before looking at the dressing and a smile replaced his tears, even though his cheeks were still streaked with drying tears._

_"T-Thank you," he hiccupped as he got his tears under control and Athrun helped him up before they continued on their way._

_"You always get into so much trouble. Of course I have to carry bandages for you. Between you and me, I think one day I'm gonna mum-mumm-"_

_"Mummify?" Kira supplied and Athrun nodded vigorously._

_"Yeah!" he was a tiny bit jealous that Kira picked up things so quickly, faster than he did, and was a like a sponge for knowledge. "I'm gonna mummify you."_

_"Yeah right.__ Whatever," Kira grinned as they neared their classroom. His eyes suddenly gleamed, "I'll race you!" He took off, much to Athrun's protest before he could hear the pounding legs of his best friend, trying to catch up to him._

Kira smiled a bit sadly at the memory. They had gotten in trouble with the teacher and had detention after school. It wasn't punishment as they had sent notes to each other through their computers, the OS rewritten to suit their own purposes.

_"Hey Athrun," Kira asked, the two of them precocious eleven-year-olds as they sat at their desks, Kira fiddling with the latest set of mathematical problems, Athrun idly doodling on his computer board._

_"Yeah," Athrun sketched out the bare drawings of a bird of sorts._

_"You think the Blue Cosmos will ever give up?" Kira asked. Even though Blue Cosmos had been around ever since Coordinators existed they had only recently begun to step up their activities and everyone had been talking about them._

_"Probably not.__ They hate us even though the only thing we've done is just tweak our genes to make us better and more efficient in doing stuff," Athrun replied, "it's sad really. The bigots who always want to blame someone…its an endless cycle of hatred that never ceases to go away."_

_"Yeah, but couldn't they take a hint from the Orb Nation?" Kira wondered, "I mean look, the Lion of Orb, Uzumi Nara Attha, he's doing fine keeping the peace in his country. They have both Coordinators and Naturals living in harmony."_

_"You've got me if you're asking how he does it," Athrun made a few notes next to his sketch and began to fill in more detail in and around the sketch. "The PLANTs do have a few Naturals living among us, but even they are rarely seen in the public. It's like a shunned thing."_

_"So what about this city?__ I mean, we're just like Orb for crying out loud," Kira absently said as he finished two of the problems he was working on, pleased that he was able to figure out the solution so quickly._

_"Yeah, I guess that's why Dad decided to move here. He's part of the PLANT Supreme Council, but he wants to live among both Coordinators and Naturals so he can forge peace with them and stop Blue Cosmos," Kira peered over his best friend's shoulder as he made a few more notes._

_"Wow, your dad's ambitious," he said and Athrun smiled and shook his head._

_"When have you not known Uncle Patrick to be not ambitious?" he teased._

_"Good point," Kira reasoned, "still…I've got a bad feeling that if Blue Cosmos isn't stopped…something bad will happen."_

_"Yeah…I know what you mean," Athrun replied._

Kira found himself once more in the blackness and wondered why he was having these flashbacks. He sat down on the ground, and curled his knees to his chest. Couldn't he just be left alone in here? He didn't want any memories of the outside world to remind him of what he was.

"But if you let them fade away, you'll eventually fade too. Do you really want to stay in here?" a voice he had not heard in a long time suddenly spoke up and Kira froze for a second before looking up.

"Tolle?" he whispered, seeing his best friend, dressed in his civilian clothing, a grin on his face.

"Not quite, but it's good to see you again, Kira," Tolle's smile got wider.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Gah, this was such a monster to write. No one wanted to cooperate with me, stupid muses and characters. Anyways, thanks for keeping up with this fic and thank you for staying by my side as I navigate through junior year of College. Sorry it took so long to post this chapter, but hopefully you'll appreciate it more. There are a lot of things going on, but most of all, is Kira's status…and the war outside. You might notice that this story echoes a lot from my Gundam Wing story, Retaliation. Ahhh…the joys of politics. And there is no specific political entity I am basing the politics of this story on. It's like a mis-mash of stuff…and me generally playing in the pool of "let's-screw-people-over-and-see-what-happens" type of thing.

And if anyone's wondering, I'm studying to become a broadcast journalist, so politics is a biggie in my book, along with war. I want to either become a meteorologist or a war correspondent when I get out of college and into the field for a few years.


	16. Control

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Sixteen – Control_

Kira stared dumbly at Tolle who was just standing there…looking like the proverbial cat that ate the equally proverbial canary. His eyes followed his supposedly dead friend as he sat down in front of him, legs curled into a pretzel style. "You…died. Two and a half years ago," he said in a flat voice.

"Yep," Tolle stretched his arms out, "but I'm just the incarnation of your good friend. You do know that this is all in your head, right?"

Kira looked confused and Tolle just shook his head, "Ah, never mind. You're good at some stuff Kira, but when it comes down to certain things, you're just clueless."

"Did you come here just to offend me?" he asked, a bit annoyed.

"Yes and no," the brown-haired teen grinned, "if you do get annoyed, you better watch out."

"Why?"

"Have you actually looked at yourself when you get pissed lately?" Tolle waved his hand and an image was brought up, almost like watching a television screen.

Kira watched in horrid fascination as he saw himself take down guards like they were nothing The setting of the place looked familiar, but the person actually taking down the guards wasn't him…was it? Tolle suddenly waved a hand and the image stopped moving, and it was showing a very pissed Kira, eyes in seed-mode, except they were different. They were animalistic and Kira felt a shudder creep all over him as he stared at his own face.

"It's you, if you had any doubts," Tolle said in a serious voice and Kira turned to stare at him, white a ghost.

"I…I-that's not me," he murmured, knowing all to well that what he was saying was lies.

"But…I…look like…" he trailed off, unable to form the next words.

"Like Griever?" Tolle supplied and Kira stared at him. "Of course, you look like him. He's a clone of you."

"But that's not me," he pointed up to the frozen image and a small kindle of anger began to build inside of him. "I would never do something like that! I'm-"

"You killed people back in the war, you know," Tolle suddenly stood up, his voice as cold as ice and Kira backed away in fear, unable to stare at good friend's face. "I died in the war and you killed others. You even killed Nicol, Athrun's friend. You let others die because you couldn't protect them. That little girl? Elle? She died because you couldn't protect her shuttle.

"Flay? She died because you couldn't protect her shuttle from Rau Le Creuset," Tolle said, and with each word Kira flinched against it. With each word he could feel the hurt that he had been suffering from ever since he had decided to pilot the Strike Gundam. No even before that when he was born into this world. He was born on the pretense of human wish and human suffering. He was the Ultimate Coordinator…the ultimate weapon to be molded.

"If you're going to be like that, then I suggest you don't even exist anymore. The others don't need to see you like that," Tolle said, but Kira wasn't even listening.

_I can't exist like this…it'll only bring suffering to others. It doesn't even matter what Cagalli, Athrun, or Lacus says…I'm…I'm…I…can't live. Not if I am like this…not if what was done to me was like this…No…_

_Nononononononono__…_

Kira curled up into a ball and hugged himself tightly. He could feel tears running tracks down his face and cried out his pain. He hated what had happened to him. He was a murderer. He killed so many innocents. He had allowed himself to break and therefore he couldn't live. There was nothing worth living for anymore…

_Please…let me fade away…_

_

* * *

_

"Doctor! He's crashing!"

"Shit! Get the paddles! Ready! Clear!"

Silence.

"Set it again. Ready. Clear!"

Silence.

"Again!"

"Come on Kira…don't do this to us… to me…"

"Kira! Kira!"

"Oh God…Keiji…"

"Shh…it'll be all right…"

"Kira…please…don't leave me…don't leave us. Stay, please? I love you…please stay with me…"

"Clear!"

* * *

For a few minutes it had been white, but Kira found himself in a grayish area and was confused. What had happened? He wanted to be in the white…and he wasn't in the black anymore.

"You're actually dying, right now as we're speaking," Tolle appeared once more, this time dressed in a flightsuit, his helmet tucked underneath his arm.

Kira suddenly jerked slightly as he felt something pass through him and for a moment, the room dimmed from gray to black before returning to grey. "What was that?"

"Electrical current. Your heart's stopped in the living world," Tolle replied.

"Good," Kira muttered, "I want to die. I don't want to live anymore. There's nothing to live for."

"If there's nothing to live for, then how come you didn't just let Zala completely manipulate you?" Tolle suddenly asked.

"I…" Kira trailed off as painful memories assaulted him. He could feel every incident in which Zala had tortured him, where Richard had thrown him around, where he had been shot by others…where he was…

Back then he wanted nothing more than to go home…to be with his family and friends.

"So you do have something that you want to return to," Tolle interrupted him.

"But they hate me now…they'll hate me when they find out," Kira knelt down onto the grayish ground and looked up plaintively at Tolle who was staring down at him, his face an impassive mask.

"Do you actually know that?" his good friend countered, eyebrow raised in speculation.

"I-"

"Stop doubting yourself Kira. You shouldn't do that you know. It'll give you early grey hairs."

_"Come on Kira…don't do this to us… to me…"_

Kira glanced up and tried to see through the grey to identify the voice. "Athrun…?"

"See, you have people that care for you at least," Tolle said in a simple voice.

"But Athrun…he…I…"

"For crying out loud you're his best friend. One of the few friends he actually has. Do you really know how hard it was for him to make friends! He's way too serious at times and while he does have the admiration of others, they don't really see him the way you see him. If you want to abandon him, then fine."

_"Kira!__ Kira!"_

"That's Cagalli's voice," he wondered mostly to himself, "why would she be here? I thought she…"

"She's your twin. Your sister. Of course she would be here. Haven't you heard of the 'twin thing'? Identical twins have the twin link, but it seems that between you and Cagalli, your twin link is strong, even though you're fraternal."

"She told me to be strong…once… long ago," Kira closed his eyes slightly as a memory passed over him.

_"We're your family. Athrun, me, Lacus…everyone, including your mother and father," Cagalli said in a quiet voice…"Be strong, okay?" Cagalli shook his shoulder, squeezing it once to reassure him._

Tolle was silent.

_"Oh God…Keiji…"_

_"Shh…it'll be all right…"_

"Mom…Dad…" Kira barely noticed that the grayish world was fading into darkness once more. He sat in the darkness, drinking in the presence of their words and letting it fill him.

_"Kira…please…don't leave me…don't leave us. Stay, please? I love you…please stay with me…"_

"Lacus…" Kira heard her musical voice and it warmed him. How could he have forgotten his love? How could he have forgotten her and left her all alone? A stifling gasp overcame him and he crumpled to the ground, clutching his chest. Everything felt so heavy. No! He wanted to stay alive! "I have to stay alive! I…have…to!" he struggled out as he could see that his vision was fading and Tolle was starting to fade.

"Tolle! Help me!" he reached out with a hand to his fading friend.

"I already did. Now it's up to you Kira…" Tolle's voice was fading as everything became blacker than usual. "Wake up and embrace your world…atone for what you are…"

Kira had completely passed out when a creature of the night suddenly appeared and stared down at his prone body. It hissed slightly before breathing out a single word.

"Destroyer…"

* * *

His eyelids felt very heavy and sandpapery, but nonetheless Kira struggled to get them opened. When he finally did, he blinked them a few times and found himself staring up a white ceiling. The ceiling looked oddly familiar and he could feel an undercurrent of vibration telling him that he wasn't in his cell/room held by Patrick Zala. His next conclusion was that he had to be on a ship…

He started slightly as he remembered what had happened. His father had rescued him…they had escaped…or was this all a trick set up by Zala to break him further? He turned his head slightly a pair of green eyes staring worriedly back at him.

"Athrun?" he whispered, his throat dry and scratchy, unused for a long time. "Is…this…a dream?"

"No," Athrun's strong voice reassured him, "you're not dreaming. You're safe, here on the _Archangel_."

"Are you…real?" he asked, a hint of lingering doubt on him.

"Tori!" the chirp of his robotic bird as Tori flitted down from its perch in the corner of the room and onto Athrun's shoulder washed all doubts away. There was no way Zala would have known about Tori…it was a present given to him in secret by Athrun just hours before he left.

Athrun smiled slightly as he must have noticed that all doubts had washed away but then his expression got serious. "How do you feel?"

Kira didn't feel like answering as he turned his head to the side, away from his best friend's concerned look. How _did_ he feel? He didn't know. He could faintly remember some things that had occurred during his capture. He had been tortured, that he knew. But the specific details…they were so fuzzy. All he got was brief flashes of images that sent chills down his spine. They were violent images, and he had the oddest feeling that he had been involved in those violent images. They were images of death and rage. But he clearly remembered his father's face, peering down at him as he laid on a bed, fighting the drugs and the fever that had been threatening to overwhelm him; his father offering his support to carry him out of there. That he remembered.

"I…couldn't do anything," he started slowly after a long pause, "they…tortured me. They…" Images started to flash through his head.

_His hands curled slightly as he pushed himself up slowly, a bit oblivious to the gasps of the scientists or their exclamations of him overcoming the sedative. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he hung his head and turned a side-ways look at Zala who was smirking at him though anger was burning deep in his eyes._

_"The real Patrick Zala wouldn't do something like this. Athrun was right, he is dead and the only thing I see is just an imitation. Whatever you do to me, I will not cooperate," he said in a cold voice, glaring at the man._

_"Then you never knew of my true intentions, Kira Yamato. And in due time, you will cooperate or you will see your friends and family suffer," Zala replied in an equally cold voice._

**_Flash!_**

_"Nikolai, as your clone-brother, had a special ability given that he was the Ultimate Coordinator. He was what myth deemed to be an Esper, one who had ESP, extra-sensory powers. Of course there are countless other names, telepath, telekinetic, psionic, call it whatever you want, he had that ability. That is why you, the original, should also have that power._

_"Now, move this," he jiggled the golf ball in his palm._

_Kira gaped as he processed the information the man was saying. He was a what? But that wasn't possible. Coordinators had enhanced genes, but not enough to drastically and so suddenly be able to move objects!_

**_Flash!_**

_Swinging his legs to the side, he got up and promptly grabbed onto to the bed post as the world spun dizzily around him. He saw spots dance around his eyes and closed them trying to alleviate the dizziness. It passed soon enough and he opened his eyes once more. What the hell was that, he wondered as he took a tentative step forward. It felt safe and he walked around his cell, still feeling a bit off._

**_Flash!_**

_Kira snapped his head towards her, seething with anger, "Would you cut the bullshit!"__ A part of him was shocked at his own words. Where did this anger come from? He was so annoyed and angry at the woman who was standing in front of him, patronizing him._

**_Flash!_**

_He managed to hold onto it and suddenly felt something change within him, filling him with a new awareness. Even though his eyes were still closed, he though his hearing sharpened and the fabric of the bed and the clothes he was wearing felt different. It was as if every one of his senses had caught fire and were burning all sorts of information into him. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked._

**_Flash!_**

_He wondered why was everything so slow, but then realized that it was him who was moving fast, his seed-mode, he realized. A feral smile appeared on his face as he knew that he had an advantage._

_Nononononono_ Kira forcibly wretched his memories away from what he was seeing. It wasn't real. None of those memories were real. They were fake…they were there because they were part of Zala's torture. He didn't do any of that. He didn't!

"Kira? Kira!" Athrun's hand gripped his shoulder and he found himself staring into the concerned emerald green gaze of his best friend. "What happened? You were convulsing!"

"I…I…" Kira was at a lost for words and didn't know what to say. He did the only thing that he felt at the moment. Despair. And with despair came tears. He barely felt his best friend, almost brother, hugging him tightly as he cried.

A lost soul…haunted by his actions.

* * *

Kanoko's despair grew even further as she began to go through the invaluable information her husband had acquired in his infiltration of Martius Eight. She sat in the quarters she had been given temporarily aboard the _Archangel_ to be closer to her son. Right now, Keiji was sleeping in their bed, almost healed since he had returned about a week ago. Kira's condition still remained the same and she wondered if her son was going to wake up.

Athrun had almost never left Kira's side and neither did Cagalli or Lacus, though now the two women were sleeping just from sheer exhaustion and by doctor's orders. She admired their dedication to her son and found hope in them, but that hope was slowly being shattered as she read the information in the notes taken from both Zala's and Dr. Madison Francis' personal files.

She had heard of Madison Francis in passing and had never met the woman, but from her notes, she knew that if the woman was still alive and not with a bullet hole in her skull, courtesy of her husband, she would put that bullet hole in her skull without hesitation. How dare the woman touch her son to prod and poke him as an experiment? Her personal notes were all dispassionate and she had made Kira sound like a pet of sorts.

But as dispassionate as possible, Kanoko had found her notes to be full of information and the scientist part of her, the one that she had promised never to use again, was slowly taking over and merging with the maternal instinct within her. What the hell did this woman do to Kira? Do to her baby…her pride and joy?

"Kira…" she whispered her son's name.

"Kanoko? You're still awake?" the groggy voice of her husband made her turn slightly to see him sit up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"You should be asleep, Keiji. Shh, don't worry about me, go back to sleep. You're still injured," she reassured her husband before turning back around to look at more information. She sighed in slight exasperation as she heard her husband roll out of bed and walk towards her before sitting down on the extra chair next to the desk she was working on.

"You never listen do you?" she asked as she clicked on a new file, bringing it up.

"I only listen when it's interesting," Keiji replied before he glanced at what she had up on the screen. "Did you find any solution yet?"

"No," Kanoko sighed sadly, "even with the blood sample that we have of Kira, I've tried to isolate the drug in him, but it's spread so far in his system and affected his mind so much that I can't find a cure right now."

"Did you…" Keiji hestitated for a few seconds, "talk to you know…_him_ about it?"

"Griever?" Kanoko had seen her husband's reaction the first time Griever had appeared, which was a few days ago after staying the hell out of everyone's way since Kira came back. He had briefly peeked in on her and Keiji had nearly gone into shock and was about to kill the clone before she had stopped him.

"I still don't understand what he's doing here," he grumbled, "he's the enemy for crying out loud."

"He saved Lacus' life. He's repenting for his previous actions."

"How the hell do we know if he's spying for Zala or not? I mean what happened with Quinn-" Keiji immediately shut up as a dark stormy cloud rolled over his features.

"You couldn't help it with Quinn, Keiji," Kanoko pulled herself from the notes to stare at her husband and clasped his hands in hers. "We all couldn't have foreseen it."

"I should have," he replied darkly, "then I would have prevented Kira from being taken and all of this shit happening."

She flinched slightly from his use of language and was about to say something when the expression on her husband's face stopped her. He looked pained about something, as if ghosts of the past were haunting him.

"I…" Keiji hesitated before plunging on and stared at her with an intense gaze. "I…killed _her_, Kanoko. Killed her in cold blood."

She didn't need to be a mind reader to know who her husband was talking about. Dr. Madison Francis. "It's not your fault. She did things to Kira…put the drug in him…"

"It still doesn't excuse my actions, Kanoko. I killed her. I could have disabled her when her gun moved, but I didn't. I just killed her because I was angry. There is no justification in that. It's murder, plain and simple. I swore I wouldn't do something like that after I married you. Look at me now, I've broken my promises."

"Keiji it isn't your fault. It isn't-"

"Yes it is Kanoko!" Keiji stared at her his eyes like an open wound. She noticed that he was shaking. After so many years he still was a good and kind man, not the assassin he was all those years ago. He wasn't truly a heartless man like she had thought the first time she had met him, but he cared deeply for those he sworn to his life and the promises he had made. "She had a daughter, you know…Quinn's daughter too." Keiji gave a bitter laugh, "You want to know what happened to her?"

"I heard Yzak had fired a disabling shot, but somehow it had hit her heart," Kanoko had been there during the full debriefing from the three of them. She had a sense that Yzak and Dearka weren't being entirely truthful during their debriefing and had kept some things out, but she thought it was probably for the protection of Kira.

"Yzak did, but it was Kira who moved Riley into the fatal path of the bullet."

"What?" Kanoko was confused.

"Do you remember what Sven Anderson told us when we were at Mendel? Teleportation and what Griever did? I think somehow, Kira moved Riley into the path of the bullet and I could have stopped him, but I didn't know what to do. I killed Riley too…"

"No…no, you didn't do that," Kanoko said in a hollow tone. Her mind was screaming with the possibility of what that drug did to her son. She had read the notes and the observations, but to actually hear it from Keiji's mouth. "No…not true…" She knew that she would have to find Griever before she could even think about possibly curing her son. Griever would have the answers.

"But-"

Kanoko turned her fiery gaze on her husband and said in a firm tone, "You didn't kill Riley, Keiji. Patrick Zala did. He is the one who started all of this. If you want to blame someone, blame Zala. He's the one that brought all of this upon us. You aren't to blame, Kira isn't to blame, and no one is except for Zala, Rau Le Creuset, and Ulen Hibiki. They are the ones to create this mad world. Don't blame anyone else and most certainly not yourself."

"Kanoko-"

"Keiji," she silenced him with a finger on his lips, "please. No more nightmares. Let the healing begin, okay?"

Keiji hesitated before a small smile appeared on his face, "All right…" They kissed briefly before Kanoko rested her head on his broad shoulders. This was why she had married him nearly eighteen years ago. He was devoted to her and her to him. And the two of them were devoted to their son.

Nothing would tear them apart, nothing.

* * *

Quinn Misali didn't say a word as he heard the news from Patrick Zala via a secure communications channel in his private quarters aboard his ship the _Isis_. Madison was dead. Riley was dead. Zala had sent him footage of what had happened and he had watched a stony expression on his face. The man had given his condolences and then had signed off, leaving Quinn in the darkness of his room.

His ship along with the _Heracles_ and _Thoreau_ were currently escorting Colony Mendel to its final destination, though they were making it a very subtly slow pace to throw off anyone who was watching. To anyone watching it looked like the Colony's orbital stabilizer had been severely damaged and was just floating to become part of the debris belt. On the inside, his Shadow teams were hard at work, maintaining the systems and installing nuclear bombs inside of the remnants of the broken Colony. All three ships providing escort were also doing a freefalling, but precise tumble with the Colony along with the remnant parts of the OMNI and ZAFT fleet that had come to stop them almost a week and half ago.

It all made for a very elaborate, though slow-moving plan and Quinn was pleased in this way. By the latest estimates, they would have at least two weeks before they passed the point of no return, the point where the Colony couldn't be stopped from its rapid descent into the Earth's atmosphere. He didn't really care about the effects of the Colony drop, an everlasting winter, as his "family" was already up here in space. But now his "family" was dead.

And Quinn still didn't say a word to their deaths.

But he did pull out a picture of both Madison and Riley and stared at it for a long. Through that long time, only one tear fell from his face and onto the ground.

Quinn Misali was the perfect soldier.

* * *

Kira awoke again and still found himself in the _Archangel__'s_ medical bay. He realized that he was feeling a lot better and even stronger. A quick glance at the equipment around him told him that he was off a lot of the machines the last time he was awake but the only thing that didn't change was Athrun was still here, though now he was sleeping, a pile of dark blue hair resting in the sleeves of the white-blue trim uniform of the Liberation Forces.

"Tori!" his bird chirped softly from its perch upon the IV bar that held a pouch of nutrient liquid that was keeping him hydrated and feeding him nutrients through a line attached to his wrist.

"Shhh," he whispered to his bird that flapped its wings slightly and fell silent, tilting its head this way and that.

Pushing himself up, he was surprised to find that his initial weakness in the muscles was gone and so propped himself further up on his pillow just as the door to his room hissed open. Kira tensed a bit before forcing himself to relax as he reminded himself that he had been rescued and was safe aboard the _Archangel_.

"Kira!" Cagalli almost shouted before realizing Athrun was sleeping and had started from the noise.

"Shh," Lacus whispered behind her and Cagalli looked half abashed with shame before they quietly entered.

"Um, huh…what?" Athrun sleepily picked his head off of his makeshift pillow which was his arms and a spare jacket, and looked around before he blinked and stared at him.

Kira couldn't help but laugh at his friend's half sleepy, half bewildered expression and he realized that he hadn't laughed for a while and it felt good. Both Cagalli and Lacus joined in until Athrun made a face before he too joined in and the four of them laughed until it slowly died down. By then, both Cagalli and Lacus had pulled up chairs to surround his bed and Pink-chan was leading Tori on a merry chase through the medical bay.

"Feeling better?" Cagalli asked and Kira nodded.

"Yeah," he stared down at his hands and flexed them once, "thank you."

"For what? We didn't do anything," Athrun said.

"Thank you for calling me back when I was on the brink," he said softly and stared up at all three of them, "for telling me to hold on." He rubbed his forehead, feeling a slight headache coming on. It was probably because he had just woken up.

"You all right?" Athrun asked, noticing his movements.

"Yeah," he gave a crooked smile at his best friend, "I probably woke up too fast. I was feeling fine so probably just exerted myself. That's all."

Athrun nodded and left it at that.

"So…what happened while I was away?" he managed not to trip over the word "away" to betray the awful feeling he still had inside of him during his imprisonment with Zala.

"All hell's broken loose," Cagalli told him bluntly and Kira realized he had missed her frankness. Whereas he was always the polite one she was the rough and tumble one.

"Where are we anyways?" he asked.

"Heliopolis," Lacus answered, "Patrick Zala made a speech and drove public opinion against us. The LF and Orb are now renegades."

"Orb!" he glanced at Cagalli who looked stonily back at him.

"Orb won't fall this time," she said, her voice resolute and Kira believed her.

"But not all of public opinion is against us. Both ZAFT and OMNI are in chaos with radicals, liberals, and moderates fighting it out on the inside. There was a task force sent to pursue us and we were able to defeat them easily because they don't know whether or not to believe the words Zala's said," Lacus continued. "We're on the brink of a civil war…"

"The only thing we're sure of is that Zala's planning to drop Mendel on earth," Athrun muttered and Kira's eyes widened in shock, a bit oblivious to the pain that was mounting in his head.

"What!"

"Yzak told us that the main purpose of Operation Helio was to drop Mendel on earth so a nuclear winter will spread throughout the planet, making it uninhabitable. He wants the Naturals to be the minority population and let Coordinators rule over them. Either that let chaos reign," his best friend continued in a dark voice, brow furrowing in anger.

"We can't do anything right now because the Colony is on a slow orbital descent to the Debris Belt and then to the Earth. And not to mention both OMNI and ZAFT ships are hunting us. To strike now would only lead to the failure of the mission and then no one will be left to pick up the pieces," Lacus said in a sad tone, "Captain Ramius and the others are currently preparing a plan of attack against Mendel in the Debris Belt."

"Mendel…" Kira winced slightly as the pain in his head grew. This was an unusual headache, he realized and it felt sort of oddly familiar. Like a sense of déjà vu…

"We can worry about that later, are you all right Kira?" Cagalli asked, shaking her head as she changed the subject. Kira smiled at her, knowing full well that she really was stressed if she changed the subject.

"I'm…feeling better," he replied, "I don't really remember what happened, just vague flashes of images…"

_He wondered why was everything so slow, but then realized that it was him who was moving fast, his seed-mode, he realized. A feral smile appeared on his face as he knew that he had an advantage._

Kira winced again as the image flashed quickly by his vision and the pain his head grew stronger.

"Kira…?" Lacus reached over and he shook his head.

"I'm all right, just a stupid headache," he rubbed his forehead, the headache getting stronger, "It's all right…"

"Headache?" Athrun looked oddly concerned before his eyes widened slightly as he realized something and Kira was confused but the pain was getting stronger now and he was unable to keep the pain from appearing on his expression. "Oh shit! Not now!" he heard Athrun say before the door opened to his room and in stepped the last person he had expected.

Griever.

The next blink of his eyes, Kira found the tendrils to be back and he lashed out.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Kira's little dabble with death is a result of me watching too much _Babylon 5_ this past week, especially the first few episodes of Season 4. Both Season 3 and 4 of the show are my faves and I love John Sheridan and Delenn and the Shadows. My sis and beta reader loves the Vorlons (though Kosh is a cute little creature at times…Ulkesh can go to hell for all I care). Oh yes, a general question. **For Destiny Falling, do you want to see the SEED DESTINY characters or not? I'm trying to decide right now.** Thanks for keeping with this story and for reviewing! We are on the home stretch peoples!


	17. Teacher

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

**_An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising_**

**Story:**

_Phase Seventeen – Teacher_

Kira felt the instant fury and anger build inside of him and with the next blink of his eyes, he saw the tendrils, surrounding the room, surrounding Griever and pushed at the tendrils surrounding the clone. He watched as the clone was forced back into the wall and held him there with the tendrils. Why the hell was he here! He was supposed to be dead on Mendel!

He barely heard anything or saw anything else in the room; the only sound filling his ears was the rage in which he felt at seeing Griever there. Griever was the enemy, the abomination that wasn't supposed to exist! He let a feral smile crawl up his face as he watched Griever choke underneath his hold when suddenly the clone stared at him, eyes narrowed, eyes that looked animalistic…

And Kira suddenly saw the tendrils that had been holding the boy in place break before those same tendrils came after him. He was so surprised by the speed at which they came that he watched as they impacted him and he was forced back into the wall, toppling from the bed he was lying on.

His mind anguished at the betrayal of the tendrils and he tried to pry them off, but they weren't coming off. His anger grew as he could feel his air supply dwindling. No! He had to escape and kill Griever! Ignoring the fiery pain in his head that pounded with each pulse of his veins, he tried to move the tendrils but they didn't cooperate with him.

"You're supposed to be dead!" he growled, eyes narrowed furiously at the clone in front of him. He struggled within the tendril-bound bonds that pinned him to the wall.

"And you're not supposed to have these powers," Griever replied back in a simple voice.

"What!" Kira replied, still angry.

"Why don't you remember, it'll be easier," the clone said before Kira's head was thrown back painfully against the wall and he saw stars…but he also saw images flash before his eyes.

**_Flash!_**

_He managed to hold onto it and suddenly felt something change within him, filling him with a new awareness. Even though his eyes were still closed, he though his hearing sharpened and the fabric of the bed and the clothes he was wearing felt different. It was as if every one of his senses had caught fire and were burning all sorts of information into him. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked._

**_Flash!_**

_"Nikolai, as your clone-brother, had a special ability given that he was the Ultimate Coordinator. He was what myth deemed to be an Esper, one who had ESP, extra-sensory powers. Of course there are countless other names, telepath, telekinetic, psionic, call it whatever you want, he had that ability. That is why you, the original, should also have that power._

_"Now, move this," he jiggled the golf ball in his palm._

_Kira gaped as he processed the information the man was saying. He was a what? But that wasn't possible. Coordinators had enhanced genes, but not enough to drastically and so suddenly be able to move objects!_

**_Flash!_**

Hundreds of other images flashed through his mind and he began to realize that he had been forcibly changed. He had been given something to augment those foreign powers. Powers that weren't supposed to exist; powers that were unheard of in society or even in the existence of humans. And he had killed and injured others with his enhanced Bezerker powers. He had killed…

_"She had to die," were the cold simple words he had said when he deliberately shoved Riley Onoko into the path of Yzak's bullet. Turning the disabling shot into a fatal one for the girl._

The tendrils slowly receded from his vision as he remembered everything. Every single time he had called upon the tendrils and the horrific acts he had unleashed upon the people of the facility he had been held at. He felt the invisible bonds holding him up release and he slid to the ground. As his vision returned to normal, he realized Cagalli and the others were still in the room…and they were staring at him.

Kira turned his head to the side, unable to meet any of their gazes as the awful weight of his actions were realized and he felt hollow inside. He realized that when he was in between the state of life and death, avatar-Tolle had told him that perhaps he should just let himself die because the others didn't need to see him like this. They didn't need to see him with these horrific powers, but he had lived. He had lived because he wanted to be strong for his friends.

What would they think of him now?

"Kira?" there was a rustle of fabric before a warm presence sat down next to him and he nearly flinched away from Lacus' tentative touch. "It's all right…"

"Kira," Lacus started again and Kira refused to meet her eyes, and instead, stared at the ground in which he was sitting down on. "We knew about what happened. Your mother told us," she said in a quiet voice, "we just didn't know how much it affected you."

"I…killed people, you know," he started in a dead voice, "I don't know how I was able to do it…but…I didn't want them to die! I…"

"Shh, shh," Lacus hugged him before kissing him lightly on the forehead. The gesture brought tears to his eyes. "You're safe now. And we'll help you get through this, all right?"

Kira couldn't take it anymore and broke down in Lacus' arms. He cried, feeling as hollow as he did on that day when he had discovered he was the Ultimate Coordinator. Now, he realized he was a weapon, fashioned from his genes to be a weapon.

* * *

Athrun ushered Cagalli quietly outside, glaring at Griever to follow, leaving both Lacus and Kira in peace. The door closed behind him and he took a deep breath before turning around and pitting the clone with a furious stare.

"What the hell were you thinking!" he half-yelled, part of him still realizing that they were in the medical bay.

"He had to know sooner or later," Griever replied eyes narrowed. They too had returned to their normal state instead of their animalistic look a few minutes ago.

Though Athrun had been warned by Kira's mom and dad about the effects of what the drug did to Kira, he still wasn't prepared by what he saw. He had only thought he would see Griever with such an expression, but Kira? Gentle Kira… That had thrown him a large loop and had made him angry at the clone of Patrick Zala. He wanted nothing more than to go to Martius Eight and beat the living shit out of the clone.

But Cagalli's frozen expression of shock had stopped him and he realized that they really needed to get the drug out of Kira's system before anything else could be done. His best friend had been so strong after coming to help them at Panama before they launched their assault on Mendel in the effort to defeat the Talon. What had happened in these past few weeks to change that?

"You were told to wait! We were going to tell him then you were going to test your little stupid theory!" Athrun said, resisting the urge to throttle the clone into the wall, again.

"If we didn't do it now then when would be a good time! You were taking your sweet little time explaining things to him in there, so something had to be done!" Griever replied, a snarl on his face. It was right then and there that Athrun realized how different both Griever and Kira looked. Clone or not, Griever did have his own nuances that were totally different from Kira's.

"Just what the hell are you playing at Griever! You claim to protect Lacus and yet you pull something like this!"

"Oh please, no one was going to get hurt! He doesn't even have control over his powers! I'll admit, he does have the strength and will, but there is no control over them. He doesn't even know what the hell he's doing! It's like a damn kid playing in the water!"

"Shut up," Cagalli voice suddenly cut through their argument and both turned to stare at her. Athrun noticed that her fists were clenched in anger and she was trembling. She stared at them, her eyes devoid and blank of any emotion. "Griever, just tell us, is there any way of helping Kira?"

"From the notes Mrs. Yamato showed me, not at the moment, no," Griever replied in a cold voice, "he was injected with the same drug that were in those pilots you told me who fought you at Mendel two years ago during the war."

"Do you know their properties?" Athrun asked. If those were the same drugs in the druggie pilots of the Raider, Calamity, and Forbidden, he had a very bad feeling.

"Mrs. Yamato is trying to create a synthesis right now. You told me that when you fought the pilots, they retreated on occasion. I think it's because those drugs work for a limited amount of time within a person. Since it's only been days since Kira's returned, he could be feeling the withdrawal symptoms soon."

"So what then?" Cagalli asked.

Griever shrugged, his angry expression gone and replaced by a neutral one, "I don't know. He could go crazy or he could just be fine afterwards. From the notes I was shown, those drugs were meant to augment a Natural's abilities, and weren't meant for Coordinator genes. And probably, most certainly not for the Ultimate Coordinator."

"So how come you're not going crazy yet? If you're the same as Kira-"

Griever gave Athrun a ghost of a feral smile, "Oh I have the same drugs in me. I just have them internally. The clones of Kira Yamato aren't meant to last long. We have our own internal supply that feeds us in intervals, but soon that'll run out."

"How long are we talking?" Athrun knew that Cagalli didn't mean anything malicious in her statement, but he couldn't help but wonder when Griever would succumb to the effects of the withdrawal from the drug and if he did…what would happen?

"I really don't know," Griever shrugged, apparently at ease with his own fate. It was then that Athrun realized what was happening. Griever's defection wasn't only to protect Lacus, but to also try to find a cure for himself. He _knew_ that they were going to rescue Kira, he knew what Zala was going to do to Kira…and he wanted to be on the side that might find him a cure. Because in all likelihood, Griever didn't want to die from the drug…this meant that Kira was also on a short lifespan right now.

Griever was a dead man walking.

* * *

Lacus stared at the map in the war room aboard the _Archangel_. The map was of the Earth and the surrounding LaGrange points. She really didn't want to be here, but she knew that they had to move quickly to stop Colony Mendel from dropping, but also to alert both ZAFT and OMNI of the situation without getting shot themselves. She wanted to be by Kira's side, watching over him, but she was the leader of the Clyne Faction and she had to act.

If they moved now, they would be in a vulnerable position to being attacked by Zala's forces, OMNI, and ZAFT. They would have to wait until Mendel had started to orbit the Debris Belt. But to send out an alert…that would most certainly bring both forces down upon them, either that send the two military powers into a bickering fest.

"That window doesn't give us a lot of time to destroy Mendel before it hits its orbit and even if we send a team in, there are bound to be sharp shooters stationed inside to prevent us from destroying the Colony from within," Andrew Bartfield commented slowly, staring at the map that was laid out before all of them.

"The question is, will OMNI and ZAFT listen to us or fire on us when we tell them?" Murrue said her expression pensive.

"I've sent the information to my contacts in PLANT and Cagalli's done the same to her Orb contacts," Lacus replied, "we'll know soon enough."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Kisaka asked.

"It's the only way of getting the information out. If they come and attack us, then so be it," Lacus replied, "we have to stop this cycle of destruction before everything dies."

"I've asked Mr. Yamato here to prepare a small five-man ground assault team into Mendel so we can try to disable the controls from the inside," Cagalli spoke up, nodding to Keiji who was sitting in a corner, a dark expression on his face.

"What if both OMNI and ZAFT think this is a trap and are there to shoot us?" Martin DaCosta, Bartfield's second-in-command asked.

"Then we will disable them," Lacus replied firmly, "we can't fail. Otherwise, there will be nothing left to go home to."

* * *

It was at least an hour later that Lacus finally left the meeting and made her way back to Kira's private room. He had been moved in the last day or so from the Medical Bay to the crew quarters, but had been given a private room and a guard posted outside. Murrue had found out what had happened and though she was reluctant to do so, had posted the guard outside of Kira's door just in case anything happened.

Lacus nodded a greeting to the guard who tipped his helmet before she let herself inside. She sat down in a chair next to Kira's bed and watched him sleep, his peaceful features betraying none of the dangerous or painful expression he had just over a day and half ago. It had been at least five days since Kira returned to them…

She placed her hand on his forehead, and absently rubbed it in gentle circles. He was such a gentle boy, almost the exact opposite of Athrun. Someone who had been confident in his abilities and confident in his goals. What had happened since then? The war and the knowledge of his birth had tore through him…but he had slowly recovered in due time. What had Zala done to her Kira that made him so unhappy, even to the point of breaking him?

She stopped rubbing his forehead as he stirred underneath her touch. After a few seconds, those luminous purple eyes opened up, a bit sleepily before they focused on her. Lacus was almost afraid of seeing his face turn into an unhappy one, but they just stared at her for a long second, his features betraying no emotion of any sort.

"I had…a dream," he whispered, "that you told me it was all right and that you accepted what I've become."

Lacus smiled slightly, "Yes. It wasn't a dream…we know, Kira. Please don't be afraid…we will help you through this."

He blinked his eyes a few times before opening his mouth. "Thank you." His eyes closed and he turned to his side, just as Lacus retracted her hand. She thought he was going back to sleep before he spoke up again. "Lacus…can you tell me what happened?"

She knew what he was talking about. He wanted the whole story of what had transpired from his capture at Mendel to how he got here. "Captain Misali betrayed us and captured you," she stared as he turned back around to face her, slowly sitting up on his bed. "then came the assassination attempts by Griever. Eileen was killed, but we managed to stop him. We also found out that Zala was building smaller versions of Genesis and installing them in various parts. We found one among the ruins of Junius 7 and sent the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_to investigate the rumor that one was at Mendel. Zala then went public with the implication that Orb and the Liberation Forces were behind Talon and the Genesis. In the ensuing confusion we retreated to the remnants of Heliopolis to regroup and assess our situation."

"And now ZAFT and OMNI don't know where to turn," Kira finished for her and she nodded, watching his reaction carefully. There was no emotion on his face, but he drew his knees towards his chest and rested his chin on them. "Was Chairwoman Canaver the only one to die in Griever's attacks?"

"Yes," Lacus replied hesitantly, wondering where he was going with the question.

"Did you stop him?" he stared at her in a simple manner.

"Yes," she said before her curiosity got the best of her, "how did you know?"

"When I was…in _that_ mode," he started hesitantly before plunging on, "I could feel a connection of sorts to Griever. He had a strong sense of protection towards you, which made me conclude that you must have stopped him."

Lacus stared down at her own folded hands. She didn't know what to say to him…he was being openly honest which made her happy, yet scared at the same time. She had seen him hurt so much before that this open honesty was a bit abrupt. A soft sigh escaped her lips before she stared back up at Kira. She would be honest with him as he was with her. "I was scared to be honest. I was afraid of you and for you…of what had been done to you and how you were coping with it…"

Kira blinked and stared at her, startled by her words. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before turning his head to the side and looking at a spot on the wall. "I was also afraid. I didn't know what to do…I didn't even remember what I was doing for the longest time until Griever forced those locked memories back into me… They're…horrible…I…don't even know what they did to me…"

Lacus reached out and took one of his hands into hers, lacing their fingers together. "Your mother said that they had injected a drug into you and kept you on it for a long time. It was a volatile drug and she doesn't know how to counter act the effects at the moment."

"Oh," Kira said, a sad expression on his face as he stared at his blankets, pulled up to his waist as he leaned against the wall. He was quiet for a few minutes before asking her in a soft but even voice. "Does Griever know how to counter the effects?"

She had seen his reactions to his clone and knew that she had to answer carefully. Even with this open honesty, there was still something about Kira that frightened her. She loved him dearly, but this new found fear of him made her uneasy. It was as if he was a caged predator, meek and docile right now, but ready to spring to anger at a moment's notice. A true bezerker.

"I…don't know," she replied carefully.

"Oh," was all he said before his eyes took on a distanced look. "Lacus…why is he here? He…hurts my head," he rubbed his temples.

Lacus had heard of the effect both Griever and Kira had on each other when they were near. Griever had told her that he had gotten a déjà vu sense that increased in pain whenever they were really close together. This made it so that only one of them would survive while the other had to die in order for the pain to go away. He didn't really know what would happen during prolonged exposure, but Griever had speculated that it had something to do with metaphysics and the instantaneous effects of having two of the same people exist at the same time. Which meant that it was a scientific aberration that needed to be corrected because Mother Nature wouldn't have allowed it.

"He helped Athrun and I escape from PLANT when they decided we were responsible for the Talon after Zala's speech," she chose her words carefully.

"He needs to die," was the simple words from Kira's mouth and Lacus blinked at the sudden change in demeanor. She had been warned that getting Kira angry or annoyed was going to release that same power she had seen hours ago and it seemed that he was nearing that point again. She wondered if he knew… But even so, his words chilled her to the bone. This wasn't the Kira that she knew…this was someone different, someone changed by war and imprisonment. Someone whose gentle nature was ripped away by some brutal experimentation. Someone who had been broken and remade.

She wisely didn't say anything, hoping that the storm cloud would pass.

"He needs to die…because," Kira clenched his fists, "because he can't exist! He's not supposed to be here!" He suddenly stared at her, his eyes hard and angry, "Why the hell is he alive! He should have died when Athrun shot him back at Mendel! He-"

He abruptly stopped and looked back down at his clenched fists. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before speaking again. Lacus noticed that his voice was a lot calmer, but it was also shaky with fright. "I know I shouldn't get angry because then it'll activate the tendrils that I don't want to see… I shouldn't get angry…but I…I can't control it!"

He finally looked up and Lacus was struck at the hurt in his eyes and the pain in them. They bore into her soul and she felt her heart cry out to him, wanting to take the pain away, wanting to make him feel better. "I remember…everything, Lacus…everything!" Tears started to form at the corner of his eyes and on impulse; she got up from her chair and sat next to him on his bed, her arms encircling him in a tight embrace.

"I remember what they did…how they made me do it…how I felt. Oh God Lacus, I killed people that I didn't want to kill! I…" he cried into her shoulder and she rested her chin on the top of his head, whispering words to try to comfort him. She knew that ever since he had received the Freedom, he made it his own personal policy of disabling enemies instead of killing them, but she also knew that he was capable of giving the killing stroke when needed. But to force the killing stroke upon him…it had to be more awful than she imagined.

"It's all right Kira, I'm here now. You're safe…" she whispered to him as she also felt tears prick the corner of her eyes. She held on to him tightly, but gently and started to sing.

_"Konna ni tsumetai tobari no fukaku de  
anata wa hitori de nemutteru_

_inori no utagoe sabishii nohara wo  
chiisana hikari ga terashi-teta_

_anata no yume wo miteta  
kodomo no youni waratteta  
natsukashiku mada tooku sore wa mirai no yakusoku_

_itsuka midori no asa ni itsuka tadoritsukeru to  
fuyugareta kono sora wo shinjiteiru kara  
Fields of hope…"_

She looked down and saw that Kira had fallen asleep; his features peaceful and sad smile appeared on her face. He had a long road to recovery ahead of him and she would help him as best as she could.

* * *

Athrun walked down the hall leading to Kira's private room when he caught sight of Griever just standing in front of the door to his best friend's room, his eyes distantly focused.

"What are-" he started before the assassin glared at him and held his finger up to his lips.

"Shh! Don't you hear the melody?" he asked and Athrun was puzzled until he finally heard a melody filtering out of the closed door.

He realized that Lacus was with Kira and she was singing the song that he had heard back in PLANT. A faint smile crept over his lips as he allowed himself to relax and enjoy the song. He had long believed that Lacus' songs had some kind of healing effect on the people and was glad that she was helping Kira heal from his ordeal.

After a few minutes, Griever started to move away from the door, his face expressionless. Athrun followed after him, wanting to leave both Lacus and Kira alone for some privacy and also curious as to what was the assassin doing there in the first place – and without his usual guard.

"Griever!" he called out, grabbing the assassin by the arm and pulling him around, "where's your guard?"

"You followed me just to ask that?" Griever a smirk plastered over his face, "what a fool you are Athrun Zala."

"Then why were you just waiting outside of Kira's door? Going to kill him for making your stupid head hurt!" Athrun retorted eyes narrowed.

The assassin's eyes blazed in anger for a few seconds before he looked away, an uncharacteristic sad look on his features that made him look hauntingly like Kira. He suppressed a shudder running through him at the assassin's look.

"No," Griever replied, "I'm a dead man walking already. No need to hurry that process along. You wouldn't understand why Miss Lacus kept me alive…no one would."

He turned and stared at him, and for the first time, Athrun saw truth in those eyes. "I'm going to teach Kira to control his powers. I'm going to help him survive because he's the only hope we have in defeating Patrick Zala.

"I'll be Kira's teacher."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I think this story is going to be longer than _Entropy Rising_. w00t! Anyways, I have started work on _Destiny Falling_, the direct sequel to _Entropy Rising_. Remember, this current story (_Arbiter Forces_) is just an AU-Continuation, aka a "What if?" scenario I concoted. **I think I'll write two different versions of _Destiny Falling (one w/SEED DESTINY characters, one w/out them)_**, depending on what my muses feel like, but so far, the latest draft (there are at least 4 different versions), has the SEED DESTINY characters in it. No need to know SEED DESTINY as everything will be explained, but this is the current draft so far. Anyways, thank you to those who reviewed!

**Author's Notes Redux:**

Okay, to address a few concerns from readers. One reviewer noted that I had made Kira and Lacus very similar to John Sheridan and Delenn from _Babylon__ 5_. And seemed to be appalled at why I did this. Partially because I was channeling a lot of _Babylon__ 5_ when I wrote the previous chapter, and partially I draw on different characters from different shows and mold them to make them the best I can be. I try to keep in context, but there will be times where I go off on a tangent. Apologies to those who didn't like that tangent…

Speaking of tangents, one can draw parallels between Griever's attitude here to Mazer Rackham in Ender's Game. Heheheeh…I didn't notice it until my beta reader Algae09 pointed it out. Wow…tangents…

On another note, I hope those who were expecting a Kira/Lacus part found this satisfying… I love writing their parts…heheeh… Also, next chapter, those who wish it, Kira will begin to show off his new powers…and using Griever as a nice little practicing dummy…WAHAHAHAH!


	18. Lessons

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

_**An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising**_

**Story:**

_Phase Eighteen – Lessons_

Kira awoke once more to find that Lacus wasn't in the room, and instead a familiar figure sat by his bed, hard at work in front of a computer. He blinked the sleep from his eyes before opening his mouth to speak. "Mom?"

Kanoko Yamato looked up from her typing and a smile broke over her face. "Kira! You're awake! How are you feeling?" She reached out and brushed his forehead, feeling for any signs of a fever.

"A lot better," he replied as he sat up, tensing his muscles as he stretched, "did Lacus leave?"

"The poor girl was exhausted. She's been in meetings and staying by your side for the last six days since you had arrived. The doctors gave her something to help her sleep for now," his mother replied as she discreetly pushed her laptop away and folded her hands on the table, staring at him, a gentle smile on her face. "Do you feel any ill effects?"

Kira was confused for a moment as to what his mother was talking about until he realized that she probably knew what happened. But since she was acting so casually about it, it comforted him to some degree. He knew it meant that his mother didn't really care that he had his new powers but only was a mother to him in the end…a mother worried about her son.

"No," he replied honestly, shaking his head, "I feel fine…" Truth was, he felt a lot better than he did yesterday when he had cried into Lacus' arms. He had felt hollow and alone, but she had reminded him that he had others including her to support him. Her singing had lulled him into a peaceful state and he realized that somehow, he would get through all of this…

"That's good," she reached over the table and gave him a slightly awkward hug from her position before kissing him on the cheek, "I missed you Kira." She sat back and wiped a few tears from her eyes, "your father and I missed you a lot."

Kira ducked his head slightly in embarrassment. While his parents were affectionate, the last time he had been hugged and kissed by his mother was days before the destruction of Heliopolis. "Mom…"

Kanoko laughed lightly as the door to his room hissed open and in stepped his father, dressed in civilian clothing once more.

"Hey, laughing at a joke without me?" Keiji grinned as the door closed behind him and he pulled up the second spare chair in the room and sat next to his wife.

"Dad," Kira greeted, slightly hesitant as he knew his father had witnessed his destructive and erratic behavior when he was in Zala's clutches.

"What's wrong Kira? Afraid I'll tickle you to death?"

Kira made a slightly horrified and exasperated face at his father for a second before he shook his head, "No…just…that…"

"You had no control over your actions, Kira. That was someone else pulling the strings to force you to do that," Keiji's demeanor suddenly got serious, "don't let anyone else tell you that."

"But I…knew what I was doing," Kira started and trailed off, "I could have stopped myself…but I didn't…"

"Those were the drugs that were injected into you that are at fault! Not you, Kira," his mother's tone was also serious and Kira glanced at her noticing that she was glaring at her laptop's screen. "Nothing like this should have ever happened…"

There was silence for a few minutes, punctuated by the furious tapping of the laptop's keyboard by his mother before Kira decided to break the silence. "What are you doing?" he asked his mother.

"When your father rescued you, he was kind enough to remember to get all of the files that were related to the Mendel Incident and then purge the files," she replied.

"Are they of me also?" Kira asked.

His mother glanced at him for a few seconds before nodding, "Yes. And there are also detailed files of Dr. Madison Francis' report on what was done to you…"

"And?" he prodded her, noticing that she was extremely hesitant.

"Do you really want to know?" his father asked him, staring at him with calculating eyes.

Kira's gaze never wavered from his father's and he nodded. "Yes. I'm not afraid anymore. I'll deal with the consequences of my own actions…"

His father smiled as he realized that he had taken his words spoken only a few minutes ago to heart.

"The drug injected into you was given to you in an extended period of time. They were regular doses, but each time you had an IV line in your arm for nutrition, it was also to inject the drug into you," the tone of his mother had changed to something that was somewhat like a scientist rattling off facts. "That drug was never meant to be injected into Coordinator blood and DNA. It had been meant for Naturals to augment their abilities in battle. You might remember encountering a similar form two years ago when you fought the OMNI Gundam pilots of Calamity, Raider, and Forbidden?"

Kira blinked, taking all of the information in. He was a bit shocked at the information but motioned for his mother to continue. If he was going to take responsibility, or at least let those drugs inside of him take the full responsibility, he had to know why and how.

"Apparently, Dr. Francis had altered the drug a bit to try to composite with the altered DNA of Coordinators. The first test was actually Griever…and with mixed results…"

"I was the next one…" Kira replied before a sudden thought occurred to him, "was it the effects of the drug that made Griever who he is or is it because he is a clone of me?"

His mother stared at him in surprise before she shook her head, "I don't know honestly. There are too many variables to determine that…but you do bring up a good point. I had forgotten how intuitive you are, Kira…" She smiled gently at him, "But a good guess is that since clones aren't perfected yet, I'm more inclined to say that it's probably because he's a clone and clones are unstable."

"If the drugs are in my system, won't I feel any withdrawal effects since I'm not being fed them anymore?" he asked.

"That's the sticking part. We don't know," his father continued, "Athrun told me that when you guys battled the pilots of the OMNI Gundams in Orb and in space, they had retreated after a certain point and went completely insane from the drugs in their system after a while."

"Oh," Kira knew that he should have been worried, but somehow, he didn't feel that worried. "Um…so what now?"

His father pursed his lips for a second before started haltingly, "Griever…wants to teach you to control your powers…"

Kira raised an eyebrow at the statement. He could feel the anger and the annoyance at the gall of Griever to be teaching him build up, but tried to clamp down on it. There were benefits he reasoned to himself…after all, if he could control his newfound powers, he would be able to help his friends and overthrow Patrick Zala… But the angry part of him didn't want to listen to reason. It wanted to punish the clone for all of this madness!

"Kira?" his mother asked and he realized he had grown silent for a few minutes.

Kira shrugged, not really knowing how to answer. He didn't trust himself to speak at the moment. They were interrupted again with the door opening once more and Cagalli stepped in before hesitating.

"Am…I interrupting something?" she asked and looked to leave before Kira shook his head.

"No, its okay," he nodded for her to come in and she walked in hesitantly.

"You're family, Cagalli," Kanoko gestured for her to sit on the end of the bed and Kira scooted over in his sheets to allow room for her to sit down. He noticed to a bit of dismay that she sat on the edge of the bed, not really wanting to sit closer and realized that with his uncontrollable display of power on Griever, he probably scared her to the core.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to her, "if I scared you…back then…"

"Its…okay," Cagalli replied quietly before suddenly on impulse, she reached over and pulled him into a tight hug, startling him completely. "Don't you ever leave me like that again. You're my brother, my twin…my other half," she whispered in his ear before releasing him, a silly but tearful grin on her face. "Bakamono," she said as she scrubbed the tears from her face.

"Hey," his father interrupted them, "who told you to swear like that?"

"Kira," Cagalli's smile grew wider as she stared at him.

"Kira!" his father looked appalled, "don't teach your sister to swear! She's a princess!"

Kira couldn't help but laugh, and soon the rest of them joined in. He knew that they were trying to help him by making feel better and in ways, he was already feeling better. But there was still the nagging part…the darker side of him that knew now existed. He made a mental decision to finally accept Griever's offer. He wanted to control that darker side instead of letting it control him. He didn't want his darker side to take away the sweet laughter of his family or his friends…nevermore.

* * *

It was at least a day later and Kira found himself out of bed and in a fairly large empty conference room, with chairs and a few plants scattered about. The table had been removed from the room, leaving a giant gap between him and Griever who was standing on the opposite side, arms crossed over his chest, a slightly disinterested look on his face. He still was wary of the assassin as he watched him slowly stand erect. No one else was in the room and no one else allowed in, this "training" was to be in secret and only a handful of people knew about it.

Still, there were two guards posted outside of the room, with strict orders from Lacus not to go into the room or to let anyone except a few, in, even if there were odd sounds coming from the room. Since he was still stationed aboard the _Archangel_, they had to tell Murrue so she wouldn't get worried, but she had promised not to tell the rest of the crew. No need to start panic where it didn't need to start, especially since they were still hiding from ZAFT and OMNI patrols.

"I'm sure you were told the details of your…powers," Griever said in a nonchalant voice, his expression still one of disinterest.

"I…guess," it was still surprising to Kira that he was actually having a civil conversation with the assassin and rubbed his forehead slightly to try to alleviate the headache that had been gnawing at him ever since he walked into the room. He knew that it wouldn't do any good, but the motion still provided some figment of relief. The only way to get rid of the headache was to get as far away from Griever as possible…or to kill him a part of him suggested.

"All right then," Griever suddenly started to pace around his side of the room, disinterested expression completely wiped from his face, "a few ground rules. I hate you, you hate me. There's nothing more than that, but I promised Miss Lacus I try to help you so I will try.

"I am you; you are me," Griever stared at him with hard eyes and Kira's narrowed slightly, "so I know how you think. I will push you and your objective this lesson is not to get angry, got that?"

"I thought my anger is what triggers the tendrils-"

"Tendrils?" Griever cut him off with a wave of his hand, "those aren't your 'tendrils'. They're the fabric of space and time, bending to the psychosis of what we can see and access. They're the powers of telekinesis. To call them tendrils is hardly a fitting name."

Kira frowned as he felt a bit disturbed by his clone-brother's words. He spoke of the tendrils as if they were something to love…and it made him feel a bit sick. His wounds twinge in pain as they were still healing from his imprisonment in Martius Eight.

"But enough, of that," Griever's eyes sudden changed and Kira was surprised at the sudden change. Suddenly one of the chairs in the room rose up on its own and started to rotate around. "I am able to access my own powers without any help from my emotions, as yours seemed to be triggered by your anger, because there is a key of sorts that was unlocked when they created me."

"And I have that lock, is that correct?" Kira asked, feeling his anger subside, but not completely dissipate. The headache from the close proximity of his clone-brother was irritating him and making it very hard for him not to be annoyed or pissed.

"Got it in one," the infuriatingly superior tone Griever was taking didn't help matters at all, "of course, we have to unlock it."

"Why? I don't want these powers," he shot back, a frown on his face as the chair started to do lazy rotations back and forth in the conference room.

"Why not? Think of the asset it will be in battles. You'll be able to teleport-"

Griever suddenly vanished from his spot and appeared near the door, upping the headache further and Kira winced, rubbing his temples in a futile attempt to alleviate it.

"-Like this. How the hell do you think I was able to get the _Firestorm_ and the other mobile suits to Colony Mendel in such a short time after you had departed Panama all those months ago?" Griever smiled one full of teeth.

"I don't want to learn to teleport. I don't even want to learn how to move objects. Why did you agree to teach me?"

"Better the question is…why did you agree to learn from me?" Griever had teleported himself back to his original spot, the chair never losing its rotation around the room even when he had teleported.

"I agreed so you can help me! I want to be rid of this power! I want to get this drug out of my system!"

"Then you should have asked your mother to help you with that. After all, she seems to know a lot about what was injected into you during your stay with Patrick," Griever replied, eyes narrowed and Kira could feel the anger growing in him. The clone actually had the gall to look like he was enjoying this…enjoying taunting and telling him information that he would have done without.

"You said you saved Lacus…I think you just saved her because you're a damn spy," Kira ignored the rational part of him that was screaming for him not to get angry, not to fall for any of Griever's tricks, but he was tired. Tired of being so weak to everyone. He wanted to be strong for his friends, like what his sister had told him all those months ago when she left for Panama, leaving him behind.

"You think I'm a spy?" Griever's eyes also narrowed and the chair that had been rotating at a lazy pace was now starting to spin a bit faster by the moment. "You don't even know the reason why I saved her!"

"You just want an opportunity where everyone's guard is down so you'll kill her," Kira hissed at him, starting to see red. He rubbed his temples again, "And you're here to ensure that Zala wins no matter the cost!"

"You think it's that simple! You think that I am here by the will of that insane clone!"

"Why not!" Kira shot back, "you're a clone too! So why not two insane clones working together to overthrow the whole world!"

"You don't understand what I am!"

"Ha!" Kira yelled as he started to see the tendrils, not from the blink of his eyes, but see them subtly appear, as if they were growing out of the woodwork, "I understand all right. You're a clone! Like you said before, you are me, I am you!"

"Oh really," Griever's voice dropped into a dangerous whisper, "if you truly understand me…then what is it you're seeing now? Hmm? Do you see your precious tendrils? Do you see the beckoning of power?"

"Shut up!" Kira lashed out with the tendrils, pushing the chair that had been spinning violently around at Griever, breaking his hold over the tendrils.

The clone ducked and the chair crashed into the wall, breaking into pieces, but Kira wasn't finished yet. Red hot anger had gripped him and wanted his revenge. A rational side of him cried out for him to stop, but he ruthlessly squashed that part down. All that mattered now was to hurt Griever. To hurt the man that was so uncaring of the world like Rau Le Creuset.

He picked up another chair and spun it around like a dizzying tornado before sending it flying at Griever who ducked, but Kira tracked him and pushed at the tendrils surrounding him, sending him crashing into the wall. Through the tendrils, he could feel some kind of otherworldly anger fueling his own and he saw the tendrils bend around the clone.

He pushed at them and lifted Griever up on the wall, and started to constrict the tendrils around his throat. More tendrils appeared and he saw that those around Griever's mind were the tightest and a morbid and wicked curiosity poked at him to go explore that part of the tendrils. They urged him on, telling him that it was all right and he could have his anger unleashed upon the assassin who was helpless right now.

As soon as he touched that mass of tendrils around the clone's brain, he was flooded with random images. Too much! So fast! Too fast! Information overload! His mind screamed at him and he released the touch, retreating deep into his own head. Just as suddenly the tendrils receded from his vision and Kira felt his breath coming in ragged gasps as he slumped to the ground, sweating and panting.

After a few minutes of silence save for the gasping of his own breath that sounded harsh in his ears, Griever spoke up, startling him. "It's so easy, isn't it Kira Yamato?"

He looked blearily up at the clone who was sitting against the wall he had been held up against, knees drawn up to his chest, his hands resting on them. "It's easy to see the tables reverse in such a short amount of time."

Kira stiffened as he realized what his clone-brother was talking about. In his blind anger, so easily raised to the surface, he had become the thing he hated the most. He had become Griever in those few seconds of anger and had accessed his powers without any remorse, only fueled by his dark anger.

"I am you, you are me," one of Griever's eyebrows rose mockingly as he stared at him, "you see the easy equation? You are me after all of this time. Destroyer."

"No," Kira breathed out the word before he shook his head, "no. No! I'm not you…I will never become something like you!"

"I told you, I will goad you into anger and your objective is not to get angry," Griever replied, staring at him, "you got angry. Simple as that."

"I…I…" Kira cut the air viciously with his right hand, "I didn't mean to get angry! It's you! You're the one who's doing this!"

"No," his clone shook his head as if he was speaking to a child, "you did it to yourself, Destroyer."

"Stop calling me that!" Kira half-shouted, trying not to get himself riled up again. But the anger that he had unleashed was hovering so close to the surface and it begged to be set free, to consume him once more.

"Do you truly know what you are, Kira Yamato!" Griever stood up, raking his shoulder length brown hair back as he walked towards him and he involuntarily tensed up as his headache grew stronger with each step of the clone towards him. "You are the Ultimate Coordinator. The tool that has been created to become the perfect specimen. You were supposed to be the perfect soldier, the one who was able to surpass George Glenn in everything he did."

"You're wrong! I'm not a soldier! I never wanted to be one!" Kira replied, hands curling into fists. He remembered his life on Heliopolis and in Copernicus City. He had fun learning about different stuff, and technology fascinated him. His friends back on Heliopolis defended him when he piloted the Strike to battle, saving their lives.

"You were born to be one, Kira," Griever stopped just a few steps in front of him, "Seed Mode, that was what happened when you realized your innate powers. It gave you the ability to become a Bezerker, but it wasn't permanent.

"Do you really want to know what those drugs Zala injected into you are going to do to you?"

Kira suddenly felt a flash of fear run through him at Griever's words. They sounded so ominous… "What…" he replied warily.

"They are designed so that each time you get angry, each time you see the tendrils, they will put you into a new state of Bezerker. One in which you will find your rage to be unstoppable. This rage," Griever had grabbed another chair and was spinning it around in the air, "is forced upon you by unnatural means. Your genes have been altered by the drug. Every time you get angry, your life will get shorter."

Kira nearly collapsed to the ground in shock and stared at the clone with horror filled eyes, "Every time I get angry?" He blinked, trying to comprehend the information, "Do you mean, I'll eventually die each time I use the tendrils?"

His clone shrugged, "In ways, yes."

"I…I don't believe you," Kira stuttered, suddenly unsure about himself and his mortality. Was his clone-brother even telling the truth? He didn't trust him at all and it could have been information to scare him to submission or worst yet, to whatever Griever was planning, but still… He saved Lacus' life…when he had time to kill her. _Unless he's waiting for a ripe opportunity._ _He's waiting for your self-doubt to become real once more and then he will strike_, a part of him whispered in his mind.

"I don't believe you," he repeated, feeling his conviction grow. He would not be taken in by Griever's lies. He would not fall to the game that the man was playing. He would be strong for his friends and for his family. He would not give…

"Oh…" Griever's mouth curled up into a crooked smile, "so you do have a spine and I'm just not imagining it. Where's your anger, Kira? You're still angry I see…"

"I'm not angry," Kira felt unusually calm he was quite surprised that his anger that had been at the surface ever since he entered the horrid room to 'learn' from his clone-brother, was quite buried. He was even more surprised at how calm his voice sounded also for the fact that he was beginning to see the tendrils appear on their own. Their touch and beckoning call felt different…almost as if it was when he had been trapped with his father by Dr. Madison Francis. The tendrils back then told him that it was all right; he just had to move the gun, that's all.

He noticed that the tendrils weren't waving as violently as all the times he was angry, and instead, they seemed inviting, welcoming him to their world. There also weren't as many as before, but each one seemed to tell him that they were at his command would do whatever he wanted them to do.

"Then maybe this would help!" Griever's shout broke into his thoughts and he saw his clone-brother backing up before sending the spinning chair towards him.

Kira instinctively put his arms in a protective 'x' in front of his face and suddenly heard the splintering of wood, but didn't feel anything. He looked between his crossed arms and was surprised to see that the fragments of the chair falling at least an inch away from his hands and that the tendrils, had wrapped themselves into a spiky-shield of sorts that protected him from his head to his waist and it was seemingly held in place by two bands on his arms.

Looking beyond the shield he saw that Griever had a completely pole-axed look on his face.

"What the hell…" Athrun's voice from the door snapped Kira out of his daze and he looked to see his best friend with a slightly shocked expression on his face that suddenly turned dark and he glared at Griever.

"I thought you were going to help Kira! Not batter him with a chair!" Athrun said in an angry voice, walking into the room and coming over to him. He placed a hand on his shoulder, "You all right Kira?"

Kira nodded a bit dumbly, still reeling from what had happened. What was that? _We wanted to protect you_, he thought he heard from the tendrils but shook his head to clear his thoughts and rubbed his temples as he suddenly felt the headache come back in full force. He realized that while he had been seeing the tendrils, nothing in his body hurt…unlike when he was angry, but the after effects…

"Kira?" Athrun's worry tone made him open his eyes and he stared at his best friend.

"I'm…fine," he replied, feeling a bit dizzy. It was as if all of the pain he felt had been shunted aside during his brief moment of calm, "I guess I kind of over did it."

Suddenly a general alarm rang throughout the ship, making all of them look up at the speakers wired throughout the _Archangel_. "All hands to battle stations, all hands to battle stations. We've got OMNI forces headed our way. Repeat, all hands to battle stations, DEFCON 3. ETA to contact, 15 minutes."

The lights on the ship suddenly dimmed as power was transferred to the ship's weapons and engines.

"We should head to the _Eternal_ and get our Gundams," Kira said moving towards the door, but Athrun stopped him.

"No, we'll go. You're still injured. You need to rest and save your strength. OMNI we can handle and we've got four ships and plenty of mobile suits," his best friend said and Kira narrowed his eyes, angry for being left out.

"I'm not injured. I can pilot the Freedom," he replied.

"Kira. Please, let us handle this one. You need to rest. It won't do any of us any good if you're piloting the Freedom in your condition."

"What, I'm disabled now?" Kira snapped in annoyance, feeling the anger that had been buried resurface with a vengeance. He knew he was being a pain in the ass to Athrun, but he wanted to help defend the ships and his friends. He didn't want to stay on the _Archangel_ and be in the Medical Bay until the doctors deemed him healthy – which was probably not going to be for a long time.

"Kira," Athrun growled, "stop making this difficult. Do you really want us to be worried? Do you really want us to be completely distracted if you're out there to the point where we might be shot?"

Kira knew that his best friend was too much of a professional soldier to become distracted in the middle of a fight, but still, they both did completely lose it during their last encounter with the Aegis and Strike all those years ago. However, Athrun played dirty at times…

He shook his head, "Fine. I'll stay…"

Athrun didn't say anything except to nod and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze of reassurance before he walked out, followed by Griever who pointedly did not look at him. A sigh escaped his lips as he glanced once more down at the remnants of the chairs that had been thrown around the room. What was that he had accessed and why was it so different from all of the times before?

Moreover…why did it scare him so much?

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Apologies to everyone who have been waiting for this chapter to come out. In the span between the last one and this one, 2 months, I've been working on school work, clubs, and my job. It was nearing the time of the Finals and so I couldn't really work on my fanfics for a while. Plus I kind of fell into a Yoroiden Samurai Troopers mood during that time. Got out of it during Christmas when I was watching Gundam SEED DESTINY's OAV, a revised version of the series ending which was a lot better than the original. Hehehehe… I also ended up finally watching Final Fantasy VII: Last Order. (Drools over Cloud and Zack.) Oh yeah, the GSD OAV had a new intro and in it for I think two seconds was a completely naked Kira holding an equally naked Lacus with ribbons artfully covering both of them. (Drools all over the sight of a nekkid Kira.) Heheh, fan girl alert.

Also, I'm currently building a 1/100 Strike Freedom which was given to me as a nice 21st Birthday present from my twin who is currently studying abroad in Japan (me birthday was back in mid-November). I like to build Gundams contrary to popular belief (and commercials) that it's only guys who build them, and I must say, I've built a lot of them, either 1/100s or 1/144s (Wing Zero, Sandrock Kai, Freedom (twice), Special Edition Impulse, Wing, and chibi-ized Sandrock).

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing! I will definitely answer any questions you have using the new review system (which I'm getting used to). So if you had submitted a question to me, please include it in the review again so I can give you a proper reply! Next chapter should be out within a month!

Btw, characters in this chapter might be a bit OOC (in my opinion) because I wrote this in two different times, with 2 months span in between…so it's a bit hard for me to pick up characters in the midst of doing something after a while.


	19. Fighter

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

_**An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising**_

**Story:**

_Phase Nineteen – Fighter_

Through out the short trip to the _Eternal_ in the shuttle they had taken from the Archangel, Athrun resisted the urge to deck Griever to the ground. Lacus and Yzak had joined them while they were heading to the shuttle and had managed to soothe tensions between the two of them – or at least prevent him from throttling the clone.

He zipped up and secured his flightsuit before putting on his helmet. There had been no time for him to talk with Cagalli and before, Captain Ramius had ordered all ships to be at DEFCON 1, the highest alert status. Heading out of the pilot's locker room he floated towards the Justice which was getting the last look over by the technicians on board the ship.

A little farther beyond his mobile suit and on the opposite side of the hanger bay, Griever was already getting into the cockpit of his Ragnarok, talking with a technician who was nodding to whatever he was saying. Athrun sighed and entered the Justice's cockpit, and secured himself with his crash webbing before lowering the chair into his cockpit and saluting one of the technicians above him briefly before closing the hatch.

He powered up the Justice and turned on the comm. to all channels to listen to the chatter between the four ships of their small fleet. He patched a line through to the communications officer aboard the _Eternal_. "Clear for launch?"

"You're clear, Lieutenant Commander," the officer replied.

Athrun stepped out into the launching platform and powered up his verniers. "Athrun Zala, Justice, launching!" The tow cable holding him back to give him a quick send off released and he shot out into the remnants of Heliopolis, where he immediately noticed on his targeting screen, the Astrays launching from the _Kusanagi_, _Archangel_, and _Babylon_.

He keyed the battle frequencies, "All squads form up on me."

"Roger," came the three voices of the main pilots he had worked with while stationed on the Archangel. They had decided to split up Ami Dena, Matthew Tanim, and Orion Barton through the Astray squadrons in the rest of their little fleet and a subsequent promotion to Lieutenant (JG) for both Barton and Tanim.

He glanced at his Friend-Or-Foe system and saw that there were at least five OMNI ships, two _Agamemmnon-classes_, the other three were of the same class, but it was an unknown design. The style was very similar to the _Archangel_, but there were enough differences to warrant it a totally different class. They even looked a bit oddly bulky in places. Mobile suits were pouring out of the five ships and headed towards them. He glanced behind him and saw that both Yzak and Dearka had taken flanking positions, falling back into a loose pattern of what they had been when they were still in ZAFT.

Knowing that the temperamental white-haired man wouldn't want his mobile suit to be stationed to the _Archangel_, Athrun had discreetly transferred the Duel to the _Eternal_.

Farther to his right was Griever, almost blending in with the surrounding blackness of space in his Ragnarok. The debris and some of the paint on his Gundam told him that he was there. A frown formed on his face as he glanced to his right and saw Cagalli's Strike Rouge leading the Astrays from the _Kusanagi_.

"This is the _Heracles-class_ ship, the _Ares_. You are ordered to stand your ships down and prepare to be boarded. Failure to do so will result in deadly force," a broadband transmission came from one of the new OMNI ships and Athrun narrowed his eyes. He had to wonder at the gall OMNI could believe Zala's words…even though he was a Coordinator.

"This is Lacus Clyne of the Clyne Faction. We do not wish to fight with you, but we will not surrender. We are your allies, and we fight for the same goals as you do. Do you find yourselves so easily swayed by Patrick Zala's words to the point where military force is needed? Please reconsider your orders, and think about what you are trying to commit. War will erupt once more and there will be needless bloodshed," Lacus' clear voice came over, both calm and strong and Athrun watched his FOF system as the OMNI mobile suits and ships came closer.

"Hold your fire," he called out to the Astrays and Gundams, "let them make the first move." This was the first true test to see if OMNI and ZAFT really were listening to Zala. While the Supreme Council had been taken over by Zala, there were still many others he knew that might not believe the madman. Especially if the madman was an abomination of nature and had pulled the trigger of Genesis.

There was a tense moment of silence before Athrun saw the Strike Daggers and other motley collection of mobile suits bring their weapons to bear and fired. He immediately dodged and return fire just as the rest of the mobile suits also fired and both forces clashed.

Athrun abandoned his beam rifle after a few shots, deciding to go head on with the enemy mobile suits. Whipping out his double beam saber, he shot forward, slicing through three Daggers before releasing his flyer module and it launched a feint attack on a squad of Daggers who tried to fend it off. He slipped under his flyer module and promptly sliced the squad to pieces before attaching the flyer back onto his back.

Glancing around to do a quick assessment of the current situation he noticed that the Astray squadrons were holding their own against the Daggers for now. But oddly, the three _Heracles-class_ ships had not moved forward into the battlefield and instead were hanging back. Instead, the two _Agamemnon-class_ ships were approaching them, batteries firing.

He suddenly ducked as a Dagger swiped its beam saber at him and retaliated with a kick of his own before plunging the saber into the Dagger, decapitating the mobile suit in half. Grabbing his discarded beam rifle, he quickly patched a line through to Miriallia Haw on board the _Archangel_. "Miri, what are those three Heracles-class ships doing back there?"

"Don't know, comm. chatter's been weird. They've been silent ever since the battle's started," Miri replied.

"Thanks," he switched frequencies, "Barton, bring your squad, we're going to see what those ships are waiting back there for."

"Aye sir!" the pilot of the Orange Astray replied and made a move to join him when suddenly one of the _Archangel's_ main engines exploded, startling everyone on the battlefield, including the attackers.

"What the…!" Athrun trailed off as he heard Captain Ramius' calm voice over the comm.

"_Eternal_, _Kusanagi_, and _Babylon_ will have to cover for us. We have a possible saboteur on board our ship," Ramius' voice was the calm detached professionalism that he hadn't expected from her, not after all that she had been through, and realized that they couldn't worry about the _Archangel_ right now, not when it was something internal.

He continued his course towards the three OMNI ships, followed by Orion Barton's Astray squadron. A part of him hoped Kira wasn't involved…

* * *

Kira was still in the training room, staring at the pieces of the shattered chair that had been aiming for him, trying to make sense of what had happened. He had sat down on the cold ground for some support and to try to ease off his aches and pains that had overcome him in those brief moments of pure clarity with the tendrils. He knew he should go back to the Medical Bay and get some rest, but he was too wired to rest right now.

Suddenly a horrible rock in the ship sent him crashing to the ground and he frantically tried to grab onto anything and winced as pieces of the recently destroyed chairs slammed into him. What the hell happened? He grabbed onto a corner of one of the tables and pulled himself upright as he one of his arms cleared away the remnant chair pieces that were floating around the near-zero-g of the ship.

He moved towards the door and it promptly hissed open when he stopped, staring at one of the Marines that had been guarding the training room talking rapidly on his radio. The receiving sound was loud enough that he heard part of the message from Captain Ramius.

"—with Squads Two and Four and report to the engine room. Use caution. We don't know if the saboteur has more explosives wired on them or if there are any other explosives."

"Permission to use deadly force if necessary, sir?" the Marine asked.

"Granted, but I want the saboteur alive," Murrue replied before a click told him that she had cut the connection.

"Come on, let's go," the Marine that had been talking to Murrue gestured for his partner to follow and Kira stepped towards them. A saboteur? In the engine room?

"What's going on?" he asked.

The Marine looked like he was going to ignore him when his partner saluted instead and answered in a crisp voice. "Engine One's been disabled with an explosion, Lieutenant."

Kira had completely forgotten that Murrue still kept his rank aboard the ship, even though he wasn't officially part of the LF, probably as a holdover from his OMNI days as a Lieutenant (JG) before he went AWOL. Thus he was a bit surprised at the salute and response to his inquiry. The other Marine had also realized it and saluted him hastily; both were 2nd Lieutenants, one rank below him in terms of Marine rank towards Navy, which was the branch of the armed forces he was in. All pilots, bridge crew, and tech officers on board the LF ships went by Navy ranks while the Marines went by Marine rank.

He knew that he couldn't just go back and sit idly away, not with the ship in danger and so gestured to the Marine that had answered him, "Hand me your back-up and let's get moving."

The soldier nodded and reached down into a side pocket on his pants and drew out a spare handgun, handing it to him butt first. Then they took off to the Engine Room joining up with Squad Two and Four before they reached the hatch to Engine Room.

"Kid, what the hell are you doing here!" Murdoch called out to him as they approached the engine room.

"I couldn't sit around and do nothing," Kira replied.

"Be careful in there. He's still firing his weapons and I've already got three crewmembers seriously injured and two dead."

"How did he get into the armory?" Kira knew that the ship's armory was constantly locked and on guard.

"Don't know, but I've called medics here," Murdoch shook his head.

"Sir," one of the Marines from Squad 2 addressed him and he turned to see that the woman wore a 1st Lieutenant rank bar, meaning she was the same rank as him. He also realized that he had zero experience deploying soldiers or commanding others. His rank was just for the benefit of him being a mobile suit pilot…not to command others… "Lieutenant Yu-Ling Chan, sir."

"Coordinate the attack, I'll follow your lead," he replied and she nodded before a slightly wolfish grin lit up her face.

"Thank you sir," she replied before she started to talk on her radio to the other Squads who were nodding down two lines they had formed to burst into the Engine Room. She paused in her orders and glanced at him, "Your first firefight, sir?"

He smiled sheepishly and shrugged, a part of him surprised that the anger he had felt just a short while ago while battling Griever was gone. Instead, her calm voice help soothe his nerves.

"Don't worry sir. Just stick close to me and let me teach you the ropes. Bit of irony I might add…your father taught me and now I'm teaching you…"

"Huh!" now he was confused.

She gave him a crooked smile, "I was part of your father's team sent into Mendel to locate and kill Sven Anderson. They call me Wolf," her smile suddenly disappeared as her face hardened, "I should have killed that bastard Quinn when I had the chance."

Kira didn't really know what to say to her statement and stayed quiet.

"Well, let's go," she brought back her mask of professionalism and gestured for the two squads to head in with a few hand signals that Kira did not recognize.

They immediately went to work with such speed and efficiency that Kira had only seen soldiers do on the news. He followed Wolf, making sure the safety was off on his handgun and crouched in the corner, as the Marines made signals that everything was clear. He noticed that behind them was a huge door that cut off one part of the giant corridor that housed all of the engines and the door had a giant number one written on it. He realized that the engine had blown straight into space and there was no oxygen behind it, which mean the saboteur or saboteurs as Kira was beginning to think that one person couldn't have done that without alerting anyone, were somewhere in the other engines.

The occasional thump of missiles impacting or nearly impacting the ship reverberating through the floor reminded him that there still was a battle going on outside with the OMNI forces. They moved forward silently and Kira tried to be silent as possible without giving away the rest of the Marines' position. He had absolutely little to no experience in this sort of thing, but he knew he couldn't just sit around and do nothing.

Suddenly Wolf held up her hand and the Marines froze in their spots. She closed her eyes and was listening and Kira wondered what she had heard when his own enhanced senses finally picked up the faint scraping of metal on metal and occasional ping as maybe one or two screws dropped quietly to the floor, barely hitting it from the near zero-gravity aboard the ship. He briefly wondered how Wolf picked it up with her own senses being a Natural and all when the answer came to him a few seconds later. She was trained; he wasn't, simple as that.

She signaled the Marines with a few hand gestures before a few of them disappeared around another corner of a different corridor before she tapped him on the shoulder and he followed her with a group of Marines towards the faint noise. As they got closer, Kira could definitely hear the scraping sounds of metal on metal and a quick glance around his surroundings told him that the saboteur(s) were working on engine number two.

Suddenly a voice pierced the air and Kira froze as he recognized the voice. "There is no need to hide, I know you are there and you can't stop me. No one can."

"Taylor!" he called out, earning a slight glare from Wolf but her eyes gleamed as she thought up of another plan and made a flurry of signals to the Marines. "Taylor Ren?"

"Kira? That you?" Taylor's voice was mocking and he suppressed a slight shiver down his back. "Wow, didn't know you've come all the way down here just to stop me…"

"Taylor, what the hell are you doing?" Kira inched out slightly and saw that it was indeed his good friend tinkering with one of the main computer panels controlling engine number two. He stepped out fully, keeping his gun point up and not at his friend.

"Ah, Kira, there you are," Taylor looked up and he nearly recoiled at the blankly crazed look on his friend's face.

"What…why are you doing this?" Kira stared at Taylor, aghast. "I thought…I thought you broke free of Sven Anderson's programming! I…thought…"

"Well you thought wrong, Kira," Taylor stopped with his tinkering and glared up at him, his eyes no longer blank, but they were dark with anger, "you and your friends fell for the trap that Zala had set! I was working for him the whole time and you fell for it."

"No, I don't believe it…" Kira shook his head, "you aren't someone that would willingly betray anyone! I know you!" Even as he spoke, he realized how long he had been gone since the battle at Colony Mendel. He hadn't even realized what had happened to his friend after the battle…back then he had been too concerned about the getting to Mendel and killing Sven Anderson… He couldn't exactly wrap his head around the concept that his friend had betrayed them all. They were all supposed to be on the same side! Only Griever was the one who would betray them, a part of him spoke up in protest.

"That's where you're wrong," Taylor frowned, "you never knew me. You never knew what had happened…"

He had heard the comm. channel's chatter during the furious battle over the space where Mendel rested and had heard his sister's successful attempt at breaking Taylor's programming, though it was distant in his mind as he had been fighting Griever at the time. "I heard what happened…and I know this isn't the real you."

Taylor gave him a sardonic smile, "You never knew the real me. Only Haruka has known the real me ever since we were children. Why do you think she was the only one I recruited for Sven Anderson and for Patrick Zala?"

Kira didn't say anything, part of him still unable to comprehend that this was his friend's true nature. It just didn't seem right…it wasn't fair!

"She knows, Kira…she knows and she's been assigned her mission," Taylor smiled.

"Ru! But I thought her programming was broken by that bracelet!" he had seen Athrun shoot the bracelet off of Haruka Satou's wrist during the standoff with Anderson.

"That was added insurance," Taylor's smile widened slightly, "but you needn't worry your head off Kira. You won't be able to stop her…nor will your friends out in space when OMNI unleashes their weapons. In fact, I think they'll be long dead before that…"

Kira froze to the spot as he realized that his former friend was telling the truth…and was truly working for Patrick Zala. He also realized that Taylor had told him that there was a traitor in the midst, in the mobile suit squadrons sent out to defend the ships… But even so…he still couldn't believe all of it…it just wasn't happening.

He raised his gun up to point at Taylor's head, surprised to find his own hand shaking.

"Kira if you think you can shoot me now, you would have done it a long time ago. Even with your friends hiding out, you fire," Taylor nodded his head down to his hands that were holding a bunch of wires, "I blow up Engine Two…"

"You'll take yourself out," Kira knew he sounded foolish for trying to negotiate with his former friend, but part of him still held out hope.

"That's no problem of mine. I die knowing that you all would follow me to hell soon afterwards," his former friend said.

"W-Why…" he choked out, "why are you so adamant about dying?"

"Because you all destroyed my life during the war two years ago. You could have prevented Genesis from firing on the Ptolemaeus moon base and yet you did nothing. You had the power of METEOR and you did nothing," Taylor looked at him with angry eyes, "my family was there. And you and the rest of the Clyne Faction killed them all."

"Patrick…" his former friend let out a low barking laugh and it grew slowly high pitched, "Patrick showed me how I can avenge them. You know? He doesn't really have a plan…he just wants everyone to die. Hahahaha!"

"What about Ru? Won't she…won't she miss you if you die?"

That immediately stopped the laughter and Taylor stared at him with cold unmoving eyes, "Ru knows…Ru's a pawn-"

There was a sudden crack of a gun going off and Taylor recoiled as blood spurted out from a shoulder wound. He hissed in pain and Kira tightened his grip on his gun as his former friend looked around. "It won't be that easy! You won't-"

Suddenly a much louder crack filled the air and Kira's eyes widened in shock as Taylor was lifted off the ground and floated backwards, a bullet in the middle of his forehead, blood pooling out of it in coagulated chunks floating in the near zero gravity of the ship.

Suddenly a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched before looking up to see Wolf's grim face, the barrel of the sniper rifle she was carrying still smoking from the bullet discharge. He realized that she had fired the killing shot…

"It had to be done, Kira," Wolf looked at him, her eyes weren't blank as he had thought they might be of someone in her position; instead they were filled with unshed tears, "I'm sorry. He was holding the two fuse controls in his hands to set off an explosion in the engine and when one of the Squad fired the first shot, he had been ready to join the two fuses together."

Kira glanced over to where a couple of the Squad Two's members were hovering over the body, and noticed that Taylor's hands had been holding the wires… He understood then that he wasn't properly trained for anything like this and it was by his own virtue of luck and skills that he had been able to participate in various firefights. He didn't even notice the detail of his surroundings while he was talking with Taylor.

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Chan," Wolf's voice made him look up again and he saw that she had out a small communicator, "threat's been neutralized, sir. But we might have a problem. The threat reported of two other potential threats to the fleet. One goes by the name of Haruka the other is a mobile suit pilot."

"Haruka Satou," Kira added in quietly.

"Sir, Lieutenant Yamato says it's Haruka Satou," Wolf added on.

"Roger that, thank you Lieutenant. Hold your position until the clean-up crew has arrived, Ramius out," Murrue's calm voice came back and Wolf shut off the communicator.

"Lieutenant," Kira realized he had to do something before more innocent lives were lost. He couldn't just stand here and leave the battle to his friends, "I'll be checking with Miss Murrue about Haruka Satou's whereabouts."

"Roger that," Wolf nodded and Kira took off, running past the technicians and past Murdoch who were suiting up to head into Engine One's room to repair it.

He flew down the hall to the pilot's locker room and quickly changed into his flightsuit before heading down to the hanger bay. Looking around he spotted a shuttle that was empty and headed towards it.

Climbing into it he strapped himself into the pilot's chair and flipped a series of switches to start the engine. As soon as the engines were warmed up he eased the shuttle to the launching pad and the comm. channel lit up with Miri's face and her eyes widened slightly as she saw that it was he who was piloting the shuttle.

"Kira! I thought you were resting!"

"Can't, not with a traitor out there," Kira replied, "I'm going to get the Freedom. Please don't stop me…"

He saw Miri look off camera for a few seconds before she turned back to face him, "All right. Captain's given you permission. Kira…be careful out there…"

"I will, thank you Miri," he replied before the transmission cut and he flew out of the hanger bay, and headed towards the _Eternal_. He wasn't going to let anyone else die today…

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

All right, instead of waiting maybe another month for this chapter, I decided to break it apart and post for you readers. My beta tells me there's something off about this chapter, but I don't see what. If you guys can find it, thanks and please don't hesitate to tell me. Oh yeah, military ranking system as follows:

Army, Marine, Air Force – 2nd Lt., 1st Lt., Captain, Major…

Navy – Ensign, Lt. (JG), Lt., Lt. Commander…

I based the rankings on both the novelization of Gundam SEED…in it, it seems that both Kira and Mu, pilots, were named by Navy-ranking system. So that's how I came up with Kira and the other pilots (Athrun and the Astray pilots) ranks. This can be found at http/www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/officers.html website.

Also, next chapter may be a bit short since I'm essentially chopping CH 19 in half, but it'll count as CH 20. Oh yes, another thing…I've been very busy with school with little to no time to write so please don't expect an update until Spring Break (2 weeks) or maybe later. Also, I've been depressed for a few weeks now and it's been hard for me to get the energy to write. Sorry to all those who are expecting this story, but I should have a preview of Destiny Falling in the next chapter. Thank you again for staying with this story!


	20. Spies

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

_**An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising**_

**Story:**

_Phase Twenty – Spies_

Athrun and those in Orion's squadron approached the three _Heracles-class_ ships and got within two-hundred meters when suddenly the three ships came to life. No, coming to life wasn't actually the correct phrase, he realized as he stopped mid-flight, using the reverse thrusters to prevent himself from going any further towards the ships.

They were…

"They're breaking apart!" Orion's confused voice came over the comm.

"No…" Athrun replied slowly as he watched as _something_ was detached from the ship…and was about the size of the ship too. "It's…" his eyes widened in horror as he realized what he was seeing in front of him, "scatter! All suits break now!" He gunned the verniers on Justice and flew upwards as a giant red beam of energy was fired at them from one of the three "detachments" from the ships. It looked a lot like the _Archangel_'_s_ Lohengrin, but there was something about it that was different and he watched as the beam suddenly moved across the area in half circle before dissipating.

Specs for the mobile armor immediately appeared on his HUD and he saw that the armor was called the Destroy Gundam. Athrun twisted to the side once more as another red beam shot through where he was. There were a few muffled but cut off screams from the Astrays as they were caught in the blast and instantly vaporized. He cursed silently as he drew out his beam rifle and fired a few shots at one of the Destroys.

They bounced off of the armor and he threw his rifle away, gritting his teeth in frustration. Activating his double beam saber, he watched as one of the Destroys suddenly open fire with its weapons and brought up his shield to cover himself. The bullets peppered his shield before he weaved around the hail and flew closer towards the Destroy. The mobile armor was huge compared to the Justice, and it's multitude of heavy weaponry made up for its lack of grace. But he suspected that if at close range he would be able to destroy the machine a lot easier than from afar.

"Get as close as you can!" he called over the comm. as he charged in with his beam saber. He weaved around the firing beam weaponry, gritting his teeth as more than a few brushed his armor, some setting off warning alarms. "Orion!" he called over the comm., "can you give me a flying wedge!"

"No good sir," the Astray pilot's voice came back, a bit strained, "we're having problems dealing with the other two!"

"This is the _Kusanagi_, we're on our way, hold on a little more," the captain of the ship suddenly cut through the comm.

"Shit," he cursed mostly to himself as he continued to dodge the beam weaponry from the Destroys and also the missiles being launched from the mobile armor.

"This is the _Whitney_…we're surrendering, repeat, do not fire, we surrender," the muffled and crackled comm. of one of the _Agamemnon-class_ ships abruptly burst through all channels and the background noise accompanying the transmissions sounded like screams and probably a fire going through the ship.

"Captain Terov what the hell are you doing!" a new voice called through the channels.

"I'm not letting my crew die out here! The Clyne Faction has always told the truth! Could they be lying now with that clone's words!"

"You're crazy! You believe that revolutionary girl's words! For crying out loud, she's a Coordinator!"

"So is Zala! You believe that asshole!"

"They're in this together! They're-"

"Captain Terov," the icy cold voice of the _Ares_' captain abruptly broke through, "we do not deal with traitors."

Athrun watched in horror as all three Destroys suddenly stopped their attack on the Astrays and him and fire their beam arsenal at the _Whitney_. The ship had no chance and was completely vaporized by the assault.

"Holy mother of…" Ami Dena's voice whispered through the comm. and Athrun assumed she had been fighting off the _Whitney_ and the other _Agamemnon-class_ ship. He gritted his teeth and charged at the Destroy that he had been trying to get close to, trusting nothing but his instincts. They had fired on one of their _own_ ships! The OMNI forces were _insane_!

Suddenly a hail of bright yellow beam weaponry pounded the shield of the Destroy he was charging at before the Buster flew next to him, unloading its entire payload into the mobile armor. A pepper of missiles and green beam weapons poured from the distance adding to the destruction of the shield that the Destroy had put up. The _Kusanagi_ had arrived to help out.

Athrun pushed the throttle all the way up on Justice and flew straight into the mass of beam weaponry and missiles, hoping that his instincts and his friends wouldn't accidentally shoot him down. He could see the shield weakening in the Destroy and grimly flew towards on the weakest points.

Activating his beam saber once more, he yelled a war cry as he broke through the shield of the Destroy and plunged his double-beam saber into the bulk of the Destroy where the core would have been located. One of the pink ends of his saber cut through the torso of the mobile armor and he peppered the cockpit area of the Destroy with a hail of bullets coming from the CIWS gun turrets on his suit's head.

Pulling out his beam saber he flipped it over end and cut a long vertical slash through the main weaponry bulk before flying back a bit as explosions rocked the Destroy before a huge final burst of light engulfed the mobile armor.

Partially shielding his eyes, he backed off from the explosion and when it finally died down the Destroy was a wreck floating in space. _That's one down…two more to go_, he thought as he stared at the debris.

"Sir!" Orion Barton's panicky voice came over the comm., "the other Destroys…they're…"

Athrun's head shot up and he stared at the other two Destroys that had stopped firing and were now _changing_…from mobile armor to mobile _suit_! An icy pit started to form in his stomach as he realized things were going from bad to worst. A quick calculation in his head told him that his pilots were probably low on their bullets…and they had barely made a dent in the Destroys. The Duel, Buster, and Murasame weren't nuclear operated so they were probably near the full drain of their batteries…

"Status?" he asked the three pilots of the Gundams in question.

"I'm good to go for another few rounds, sir," Ami replied.

"In the red," Dearka replied.

"Good to go," Yzak replied.

"All right," Athrun steeled himself, "Dearka, head back to the _Archangel_. You'll have to sit out the rest of the battle. Ami, you and Yzak hit them with all you got then I want you to head back."

"And let you martyr yourself out here? Not a chance," Yzak sniffed at him, "besides, I only take orders from Lacus herself."

"Yzak!" he growled underneath his breath, frustrated that the white haired man was still being stubborn in a time like this.

"Commander! The Destroys!" Orion's voice cut through the comm. chatter and Athrun turned to see that the Destroys had finished transforming and were now bringing their weapons online.

"You have your orders!" he called to the three before their pictures winked out from his side view and he re-activated his double beam saber and started forward to the nearest Destroy. He dodged the Sturm Faust hands of the Destroy that had launched themselves with wires attached, firing at the mobile suits and ships that had come to destroy them.

Twisting and turning, he tried to penetrate the defenses and glanced over to see the Strike Rouge trying to take on one of the Sturm Fausts. "Cagalli!" he called out to her, rushing to her aide.

The Strike Rouge kept firing at the hands, billowing it in a cloud of smoke and dust before its five beams penetrated the smoke and blasted the beam rifle out of her hands.

Athrun willed the Justice to move faster but suddenly stopped short as one of the red beams raked close by him before he ducked and dodge another one of the Sturm Fausts that had its sights set on him. "Shit," he cursed as he glanced up in desperation at the Strike Rouge, trying to defend itself from the five simultaneously firing beams with its half-broken shield and beam saber.

"Commander! Behind you!" the frantic call of Matthew Tanim burst through the channels and Athrun's eyes widened as he turned and saw at least five missiles flying towards him…too late for him to fire upon with his beam weapons.

Suddenly they exploded in a fiery mess before another set of explosions destroyed the Sturm Faust that had gone after Cagalli. "What the…" he murmured before the familiar silhouette of the Freedom flew past the two of them, beam saber drawn.

"Kira!"

* * *

Kira's senses were sharpened to a fine point and he knew he was in his seed-mode, but this mode felt different…almost as if he could subtly predict the enemy's next move and dodge it. His original seed-mode enabled him to see actions as if they were almost in slow motion. Even so, he dared not let that new sense get to him and instead glanced down for a quick second at the battle data flowing into his systems. 

The Buster had already retreated, completely out of power and was being picked up by the _Archangel_. The ship was hanging behind the _Babylon_, _Eternal_, and _Kusanagi_, still limping with its damaged engines, but able to fire it's main weaponry. When he had arrived on the _Eternal_, he had immediately gone straight to the Freedom and Lacus had not stopped him, only saying to him that it wasn't his time to die yet.

"Kira!"

Kira ignored Athrun's call over the comm. and instead concentrated on the Destroy that was the closest to them. Through his newly awakened powers he could somehow sense Griever battling the other one, his clone-brother's smirk written all over his face.

Dodging the Destroy's attempt to take him down with its triple beam Scylla and detachable Sturm Fausts he raised his shield to block a couple of beams fired at him before swiping down with his beam saber, cutting across the top of the three Scyllas. An explosion ripped through the top before he flew out of the way, barely missing the wide discharge of the energy cannon on its mouth.

Suddenly the Justice appeared next to him, peppering the damaged area with missiles before activating its double beam saber. He was followed by a handful of Astrays.

Kira charged in once more, knowing that Athrun was probably going to go for its blind spot, in the back of its head. He watched as the three Scyllas prepared to fire at him and the Astrays behind him that were holding their position, unloading all of their missile payloads and beam rifles into the gigantic mobile armor. A quick check at his targeting system told him that the Strike Rouge, Duel, and what was the Murasame Gundam were helping Griever take down the other Destroy.

He struck the core of the charging Scyllas with all of his might as explosions went off around him as Athrun struck from behind, his beam saber penetrating the head of the mobile suit. Kira threw away his shield and pulled out his second beam saber and activated it. He drove it towards the cockpit of the Destroy, skewering it before suddenly lifting up and flying quickly away.

The Justice joined him as they hung back and watched as the Destroy was consumed in a series of explosions before culminating in one giant one. A little beyond, another series of explosions were taking place as the last Destroy was finally taken down by Griever and the others.

"This is Captain Ramius of the _Archangel_. Your mobile armors are gone, surrender now," Murrue's voice came over a broadband channel. He hoped that she had given a message to the ships to search for Haruka Satou before anything else happened. He didn't want her to die like Taylor did…didn't want her to be manipulated to the point where she went insane…

He closed his eyes briefly and let himself relax, willing away the alien seed-mode he had been in for the past battle. Opening them again, he watched the _Heracles_-class ships floating silently in space. He couldn't believe that they had fired upon their own ships…destroying them as if they were a nuisance. The anger and annoyance he had felt consumed him quickly while he was aboard the shuttle and he had forced himself to calm down for his own sake and the sake of his friends. He still hated what Griever had done to him during their little "training" session.

He could feel the pounding headache and the aches and pains of his training session along with the weird clarity of the tendrils that had occurred during that session coming back in full-force, threatening to send him into a large dizzy spell. Clamping down on his dizziness, he tried to force himself to focus. It would do him no good to collapse out here with three warships still facing them.

"We will never surrender…" the captain of the Ares said in a quiet and deadly calm voice.

"You are out gunned Captain. Please, we will offer you-"

"Oh to hell with it," Griever's voice cut through the conversation, "he's not going surrender…why bother." There was a suddenly flash of movement before the black form of the Ragnarok appeared beside the bridge of one of the ships; the only thing making it stand out from the inky black of space was a pink beam saber…that immediately sliced through the bridge.

"Stop it!" Kira called out as Griever teleported the Ragnarok to the second ship and sliced through the bridge.

He pushed the throttle to the maximum on the Freedom just as the beam saber emerged from the exploding bridge of the second _Heracles_-class ship. He knew he wasn't going to make it…he needed to stop Griever! _Move! Move, move, move!_ He silently urged the Freedom to go faster when suddenly the tendrils appeared before his eyes…and he could _see_…

"Kira!" Athrun's frantic call was lost on his ears as the tendrils told him that it was all right…all he had to do was touch the place he wanted to go to. That was all. It was simple; he didn't need his anger or his annoyance. And he felt strangely calm…

He touched the spot next to where he knew Griever was going to appear. And just as suddenly, the tendrils were gone and he was facing the Ragnarok, his beam saber drawn. Kira clashed with Griever, ignoring the fact that he was feeling very weak and dizzy, his body crying out to stop the pain and his head pounding a mile a minute.

"Stop it!" he cried out.

"Why should I!" Griever shouted back as the two tested each other's strength with their beam sabers crossed, "they're never going to surrender. Take them out before they can report back!"

"They're out-gunned! Disable their engines, jam their comm. systems, just don't kill them in cold blood!" he yelled back.

"That's not like you, Kira," his clone-brother shot back at him, "what happened to the one who knew what was right and what was wrong?"

"Shut up!" Kira knew that he had changed a lot since the wars…and he was sick and tired of all of it. Yes, the _Heracles_-class ship was a danger, but what was the purpose of stopping the war if they just ruthlessly killed everyone? "I'm sick of what you've done to me! Just stop it!"

"I haven't done anything to you, dear _brother_," Griever sneered over the comm., "you've only done it to yourself. The changes within you, the change in your personality…it's all you."

"Shut up…" Kira gritted his teeth as he squeezed the controls he was holding on inside the cockpit. The clone had hit a very sore spot…he knew he was changing…but what could he do about it? He was trying his hardest to fight it…it was just that the catalyst of all those changes was none other than the pilot of the Ragnarok; right in front of him, about to destroy the last of the _Heracles_-class ships.

"Step aside, Kira Yamato. They are the enemy and they need to be destroyed," Griever's voice was flat and cold, but he narrowed his eyes, seed-mode, and held his ground, beam saber drawn.

"No," he replied in an equally cold voice. "They are prisoners of war and will be treated as such."

And right on cue as if Murrue had heard him, she put on a broadband transmission towards the last _Heracles-class_ ship, "_Furies_ you are ordered to stand down your weapons and surrender. We don't want anymore senseless slaughter."

"Fine, I'll finish this myself!" Griever's cold voice burst over the comm.

Kira sensed more than anticipated Griever's next attack and met him head on in a clash of beam sabers. He immediately kicked the Ragnarok in the stomach, breaking the stalemate and went after the mobile suit. Ducking a low swipe from the black mobile suit, he lashed out with his beam saber and caught the edge of the Ragnarok's shield. Pressing all of his weight on it, he flipped his second beam saber around and swung it in a backswing towards the mobile suit's head.

The Ragnarok blocked the blow with his own beam saber as the two locked beams.

"Why the hell are you doing this?" Kira shouted over the comm., his eyes blazing with anger. He could feel the pulsating anger flow throughout him, telling him to take the tendrils that had appeared and use it against him. But part of him still knew that it was dangerous and so he flatly ignored using the tendrils. But their beck and call inviting him was like a siren's call that he couldn't turn away from. It told him that he could use it and defeat his enemies so that no one could ever hurt him again. No one.

"You're too soft-hearted Kira Yamato, too deluded to see that enemies can't survive the battlefield we are in. Do you think Zala would have let any of us survive if we were faced with overwhelming odds?" Griever replied.

"That's what makes us different from Patrick Zala!" Kira blocked a blow with his beam sabers in an 'x' as the stalemate was broken by Griever.

"We're no different," his clone-brother snapped before throwing his shield at him.

Kira took the impact in the chest as his cockpit rattled around him before he shook his head to clear whatever stars were floating around his vision and flipped head over heels, barely avoiding a stab upward that would have cut his mobile suit from groin to navel.

Charging forward, he clashed again with his two beam sabers, pressing them in an 'x' against Griever's single one. The rage from all that Griever had done to him and to his friends fueled his strength and he viciously and unconsciously grabbed the tendrils he saw and augmented his strength to break through the block. However, he realized Griever was also using the tendrils to augment his own strength and so the stalemate continued.

Suddenly there was a spark of warning that flashed through Kira's consciousness and he leapt back at the same time Griever did too. A giant yellow beam tore through the space where they had been occupying…

Kira glanced up towards the direction the beam came from and saw the Murasame Gundam, looking oddly sinister in the silhouette of the sun behind mobile suit, giant beam rifle held in its hands. He suddenly glanced down and saw that the beam had torn through the bridge of the _Furies_…and the realization that the Murasame had been aiming at both he and Griever _and_ at the _Furies_ shocked him.

"Lieutenant Dena, what the hell are you doing!" Athrun's voice came over the comm. just as the _Furies_ exploded, killing all aboard.

There was no answer from the Murasame as Kira watched the mobile suit warily… Suddenly Griever leapt into action and teleported from his current location to behind the Murasame. Faster than he could react, the Ragnarok stabbed its beam saber into the side of the Gundam, giving it serious damage before holding it in a lock, arms pinned to the side.

"Griever-"

"She's an agent!" Griever's voice came over the comm., "I forgot about this, but I realized that she was an agent! Sent to kill the pilots of the Justice and Freedom."

"How do you know that? She had plenty of opportunity to do so at her leisure," Athrun replied. Kira saw the Justice point its beam rifle straight at the Ragnarok's head, shot steady.

"Ha," the clone spat out, "you still don't get it, do you Zala? It's all a trigger to get agents like Lieutenant Dena here working."

"And that trigger could be you," Athrun's voice could have frozen hell over if it wanted to.

"Who knows," Griever replied, "how about we head back since this battle's over and you can have all of your questions answered?"

There was silence at the other end of the comm. After a few seconds a crackle over the comm. told him that his best friend had made his decision.

"With everyone present," Athrun conceded.

"Everyone present," the eyes of the Ragnarok flashed once before he suddenly sliced off the arms and legs of the Murasame, much to the protest of the remaining Astray pilots and Athrun, but Kira ignored all of that as he could feel himself come out of his seed-mode again…

His vision returned to normal and the tendrils disappeared…and that's when he felt the rush of pain, pounding of blood into his ears. His world immediately spun dizzily and he gripped the sides of his chair as waves and waves of nausea and pain threatened to overwhelm his senses.

He realized dimly as he could feel the blackness taking over him, that he had pushed himself too far this time. He was still healing from his wounds…and with this practice with Griever, the gun fight with Taylor…and now this battle…he was slowly, but surely killing himself. _Athrun…Lacus…Cagalli…forgive me…_he thought as his world was enveloped in a haze of blackness and pain…then…nothing.

* * *

Athrun ordered the Astrays minus a couple back, to the ships and sent the rest to escort the Ragnarok, holding the damaged Murasame, back to the _Archangel_, with orders to shoot the black Gundam if it even twitched funny. He was about to follow when he noticed the Freedom suddenly powering down. A jolt of fear shot through him. 

"Kira!" he shouted, patching the comm. through to his best friend's channel. Static answered him.

"Kira!" he flew towards the Freedom and held it aloft, "hang in there Kira!" Making a beeline towards the _Eternal_, he patched a comm. through to Lacus.

"Lacus, I need a medical team on standby. Kira's not responding," he said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. He knew that it was bad idea to have Kira piloting the Freedom when he was still recovering. Why didn't his best friend listen to him! He was in no condition to pilot anything, much less even get into a firefight aboard the _Archangel_!

Lacus nodded and he could see the worry lining her face but she kept her mask of professionalism on and relayed his call through to the medical bay aboard the _Eternal_. In the agonizing minute it took to fly from the battlefield to the _Eternal_, he prayed that Kira was all right. The hanger bay doors opened for them as he carried the Freedom in and set it down. Running through his hasty post-flight checks on the Justice, he immediately opened the hatch and leapt out, floating towards the Freedom in the near-zero-gravity of the ship's hanger bay.

Punching the override code on the panel outside the Freedom's cockpit that was uniform for all ZAFT-built mobile suits, the cockpit panel slid open and Athrun nearly froze at the shock of seeing his best friend half covered in his own blood, eyes closed and face deathly pale.

"Kira…" he whispered as he leapt into the cockpit and quickly undid the crash webbing that held him in place. A quick check to his best friend's neck told him that he had a pulse that was a bit uneven, but still strong. "Why did you go out?" he muttered as he gently lifted the brown-haired man out of his chair, not caring that he got blood all over his own suit.

The distant shouts of the medical team arriving was all but lost to his ears until two of them popped their heads in. He looked up as one of them gently grabbed Kira's shoulders from his hands and lifted him from the cockpit. Athrun climbed out after him and leapt from the cockpit of the Freedom to the ground where the medical team was putting on a breather mask onto his face and getting ready to transport him to the medical bay.

"Kira!" the two shouts of both Cagalli and Lacus; Cagalli from a shuttle that had landed while he was inside the Freedom's cockpit, and Lacus from the bridge made him look over to see the two of them suddenly come to an abrupt halt as they saw Kira being rolled away, still covered in most of his own blood.

"Athrun…what happened?" Cagalli turned to him and he shook his head as he put an arm around her, trying to reassure her.

"He shouldn't have gone out…that idiot," he stared as Lacus' turned to follow the medical team down to the _Eternal's_ medical bay. His right hand involuntarily clenched into a fist as he glared at nothing in particular, "We need answers and Griever's got them…"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Dear God this chapter was a total bitch (pardon the language) to write. No one would cooperate! No one! Gah! Many, many, many apologies to the readers and fans of my stories for waiting for so long. I had to force myself to finish this so it might sound a bit…messy. I hope this chapter is to your liking and answers to various questions that might pop up will be answered next chapter. Anyways, with AnimeBoston coming up this coming Memorial weekend, I might or might not be having another chapter posted. Going to have fun though! I'm going as Subaru Sumeragi from Tokyo Babylon (chess version), and Van Fanel from Vision of Escaflowne. Thinking of cosplaying Athrun or Kira next year though – woot!

Anyways, there's a new proposal of the Destiny Falling re-write. I realized that I absolutely did not like _Gundam SEED DESTINY's_ characterizations and the story could have used a lot of work instead of it being tailored to fan-service and fan wants (i.e. – why bring back Neo as Mu LaFlaga? Or breaking up the Cagalli/Athrun pairing?). Gah…so messy. **So here's the proposal:** Destiny Falling will have its original core plotline that I had written so long ago, that won't change. But, I will be essentially re-writing _GSD_ as Destiny Falling. That means, I will introduce Shinn Asuka and the _GSD_ gang in my own terms. What do you guys think? Should I do it this way or just stick to what I had before?


	21. Fate

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

_**An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising**_

**Story:**

_Phase Twenty-One – Fate_

Griever was already sitting with his handcuffed in front of him at the long table in one of the conference rooms aboard the _Eternal_. They had decided that with the _Archangel_ still in repair, the meeting would be held aboard the _Eternal_. Lieutenant Ami Dena was unconscious when they opened up the Murasame's cockpit and she was in a holding cell aboard the ship. Haruka Satou had been found aboard the _Babylon_ and was placed in one of that ship's cells, on constant guard.

Everyone who was involved was in the meeting already and they wanted answers from the man who claimed to be the former spy of Patrick Zala. Lacus watched the tension in the room rise, especially judging from Athrun's posture and stiffness as he glared at Griever. She had only arrived minutes before, after making sure Kira was going to be all right.

His injuries had reopened and the doctor said that he had a lot of brain activity going on that was in the danger levels along with a fever, but he would be all right once they put him on anti-biotics and a treatment session. She had wanted to skip the meeting, but too wanted answers from Griever.

"I believe you owe us an explanation, Griever," Captain Ramius suddenly spoke up as all heads turned to stare at the clone that looked exactly like Kira, except with longer hair and a wicked scar running down the left side of his face.

"There are certain triggers that were given to the agents recruited into the Talon. Some of them are remote, some of them are events or words said in a certain order," Griever shrugged, "Obviously with Taylor Ren and Haruka Satou, their triggers were probably activated when you guys broke through their initial programming."

"You mean during the battle over Mendel?" Dearka raised an eyebrow in surprise, "that's bullshit."

"So are you saying everyone in the Talon was inputted with a trigger of sorts?" Yzak spoke up, instantly silencing the room.

Lacus stared at the white-haired man. One of her most loyal followers…and she knew that he had been an undercover spy within the Talon months ago before they bombed the Senate in Orb. Everyone had also come to the same conclusion…if everyone in the Talon had been inputted with a trigger of sorts, then perhaps some of the defectors they had at the end were time bombs, waiting for a certain event or words to activate them and turn them into saboteurs.

Griever snorted quietly, "If you're worried about your own skin, no."

"I'm not worried-"

Yzak was stopped mid rant by Dearka who shook his head to calm his fiery best friend down.

"There were only a few that were brought to Patrick to be inputted with this trigger. Almost all of them you had killed with the exception of Lieutenant Dena, Ren, and Satou," Griever continued.

"And how do we know you're not lying?" Cagalli spoke up.

Lacus studied Griever's expression carefully. In the short time she had known the young man, she knew that he would protect her fiercely, even from himself in an odd sense, but…there was something about his posture…something about him that he was hiding. She had a sense that it was indirectly related to what was going on, but it wasn't about him lying about the agents. She would have to talk to him later, after everyone had gone. It was probably something to do with Kira…

"I've got nothing to lose. If you want, inject me with sodium pentothal, I know the _Archangel_ has to have some since it was a former military ship. I won't even object…" Griever looked at all of them with hard eyes.

"So why tell us now? Why did you wait for so long?" Murrue asked a bit unconvinced.

The clone shrugged, "With you guys running all over the place and both ZAFT and OMNI breathing down our necks, I forgot…"

"What!" at least half of the people in the room shouted, the loudest voice coming from Athrun who had a look of pure fury on his face.

"How the hell do you forget something like that! That's insane!" Yzak's voice broke through the collective mutterings of those in the room.

"Battle stress," Griever shrugged again.

"Ha! Super soldier like you shouldn't even get battle stress…what they couldn't make you perfect enough-"

Lacus knew that Yzak was crossing a fine line and stood up quietly. Anymore and he could compromise what they were trying to do to help Kira. "Yzak," she said in a quiet, but firm voice that instantly shut him up. "That's enough. What we need to find out now is how, if any way, there is to reverse the process." She turned to Griever and stared at him, noting with some concern that he seemed to be in pain, though he kept it very well hidden.

"Nikolai," she said in a gentle and calm voice, "is there any way to help Lieutenant Dena and Haruka Satou?"

Griever was about to answer when the door to the conference room opened and a guard hastily stepped in and saluted.

"Captain," the guard addressed Murrue, "Lieutenant Dena has died. The cause is currently unknown I've been told to inform you."

The room was once again in an uproar and over the din, Lacus barely heard Griever's next words, spoken mostly to himself, "Death is always inevitable with _it_."

* * *

It was much later that Athrun found himself in the same briefing room again with Griever still chained up to the chair. They hadn't put him in a holding cell yet…not with so many questions unanswered, but they had given him some food. Only he, Cagalli, Lacus, and Kira's parents were here in the room now. The rest were investigating the unexplained death of Lieutenant Dena and making repairs to the ships and mobile suits in case they were attacked again. 

The doctors were completely baffled and were currently doing an autopsy, but Athrun had a feeling that the answers were right in Griever's head… The odd thing was that Lacus had also sensed it and had called only all of them – all those who knew Kira's secret, in to talk with Griever once more.

"All right, are you holding something back that you don't want us to know about?" he asked, staring at the clone with an icy gaze. Ever since the Ragnarok destroyed the two Earth ships and had forced Kira to fight him off from destroying the last ship in the battle, he had blamed Griever for Kira's re-injury.

"It isn't like you to forget things, is it Nikolai?" Lacus spoke up, her voice neutral.

"No it isn't," Griever stared at a point on the table, his eyes unfocused.

"You said 'death was always with it.' What is that 'it'?" she asked again.

"My…memories are being affected because of that drug that was given to me," the clone started in a halting tone, "after a while…I forget things…"

Athrun narrowed his eyes, "You mean to say, Kira will end up forgetting things too?"

"Soon…if not already…" Griever had a distant look to his eyes again.

"Then what was Haruka's mission aboard the Babylon?" Cagalli asked.

The brown haired man stared up at them, a blank expression on his face, "As was my mission to kill Lacus, her mission was to assassinate you, Princess of Orb."

"And Taylor's mission?" Cagalli didn't seem fazed by his words.

"Destroy the _Archangel_, if memory serves me correctly," the corner of his lips twitched up in a smirk, "funny isn't it? How we forget the little things in life."

"Then there is no cure for the memory loss?" Kira's mother, quiet all of this time, finally asked in a subdued tone.

There was an immediate change in Griever's expression as he turned to face Kanoko Yamato. It was as if sadness washed over his whole being and he looked older than what he was. Athrun briefly wondered if this was Griever's true form…so rapidly aging that he looked almost…old…

"No…only more of that drug would be able to prevent the memory loss from occurring."

"And you ran out of it," Keiji spoke up.

A sudden thought flashed through Athrun's head and it was as if two and two clicked together. Griever had run out of the drug within him… He remembered that they were talking about the withdrawal effects…and the fact that the clone was already a dead man walking. Was this a part of the dying process? The entropy of the mind into a total systemic failure? The clone had said that his best friend should be within the stages of having memory loss…

"Do you know what happens afterwards?" he asked, feeling his throat completely dry and cracked at the revelation of information.

"The memory loss quickly gives way to failure of the brain along with the major organs. Depending on the person, it could be a short or long process before death takes them," there was almost an unconcerned expression on the clone's face, as if he had accepted his fate and was now just living life by rote.

Athrun had to grab onto Cagalli's shoulders to prevent her from fainting dead away to the ground while out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keiji do the same to his wife. Only Lacus stood firm, but he could see tears falling down her face. They all knew what was going to happen…

Question was, did they have time enough to find a cure and prevent such a fate for their dearest companion?

* * *

Kira snapped open his eyes, the last vestiges of his dream fading away to the back of his mind as he saw the familiar ceiling of the _Eternal's_ medical bay. This was his second time in the medical bay…the first time was when he had lost control of himself during the battle between ZAFT and OMNI forces over Mendel – when Flay was taken by the Earth Alliance. 

A sigh escaped his lips as he pushed himself up to a sitting position, taking out the IV on his wrist. He knew he had woken up a couple of times before this, but he didn't really remember what it entailed. All he remembered was that his parents, Cagalli, Athrun, and Lacus had sat by him during those times and waited for him to heal. He certainly felt better now and his headache was minimized to a dull pounding. That meant Griever was avoiding him. Good.

He didn't want to see the clone after what he pulled during the battle a few days ago. He remembered Athrun telling him that he was in pretty bad shape after he was dragged out of the Freedom, but the rest of the conversation was a bit fuzzy in detail after that.

Running his hands over his face, he scrubbed it a bit roughly to clear the sleepiness away and raked a hand through his hair. He certainly felt better…and the aches and pains of his wounds were fading. Glancing over to where Tori sat on its makeshift perch above his IV bag, he watched his robotic pet coo softly to itself in its sleep mode. He tentatively swung his legs over to the side of his bed and stood up gingerly.

Testing his weight, he looked around and didn't really feel that dizzy and took a few steps forward. Feeling his balance return after the days in bed and recovering from his injuries, he glanced over at the change of clothing that was left for him on the table in his private room and picked them up. Heading over to the washing station, he quickly took a shower before changing into the regular LF uniform, opting to put on the orange jacket instead of the military one. No need to be confined to a stiff jacket yet…especially since the doctor hadn't technically cleared him from the medical bay.

"Tori!" his bird awakened with a chirp and promptly flew to perch itself on his shoulder. Glancing to his robotic pet a small smile formed on his lips.

"Hi Tori…" he greeted the green-yellow bird.

The door to his room suddenly opened and Kira blinked to see Cagalli standing there.

"Kira!" his twin sister looked surprised to see him up, "shouldn't you be resting?"

His face broke into a smile, "I'm fine…feeling a lot better…"

She immediately went over to him and placed a hand on his forehead, testing for a fever. A frown appeared on her face as she found his temperature to be normal before she stepped back. "Are you sure?" There was something in her posture and demeanor that puzzled him…as if she was worried about something else other than whether or not he had recovered.

"I'm sure…you okay?" he reassured her.

"Y-Yeah," she gave him a small smile and shook her head, "I guess…if you're feeling better…there's food…"

He nodded, "That would be good."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room, Tori flying behind them. They headed down the halls to the mess hall aboard the _Eternal_, which was pretty much empty as he realized that it was late afternoon according to the military clocks. Grabbing some light food, they sat down and started eating. Kira was careful not to eat too quickly or eat anything that might give him a stomach ache later on as he knew his body was still recovering.

"So…" Cagalli asked, "how do you feel?"

"Better…a lot better," he replied, drinking some water.

"Do you feel calm?" she asked and Kira stared at her, a flash of annoyance passing through him until he suppressed it. He knew that getting annoyed would only serve to bring the tendrils back and he didn't want that happening any time soon.

"I'm fine," he replied, trying not to let his annoyance show. Calm? What did she mean by that?

He watched as she dug around the food on her plate, contemplating something before she sighed and stared at him. "Griever wants to train you again."

"No!" he said, partially surprising himself with the vehemence in his voice. "Never again!"

"Whoa, whoa," Cagalli held up her hands, "calm down Kira."

"I am calm," he repeated as he briefly saw the tendrils appear before forcing himself to exhale and calm himself down. The tendrils slowly disappeared from his vision. A part of him was dismayed at how easily he could summon those things with his anger now…

"I'm only relaying what he's saying to you," she started, "I personally don't want you near him…" She glanced down for a second before staring back up at him, "You've changed a lot Kira…changed so much that…I'm afraid for you…afraid of you…"

Kira was struck by the despair in her voice and the unshed tears in her eyes that he reached out and grasped her hands. "I'm…sorry Cagalli…" He didn't know what else to say. Even he was surprised that how quick his anger was to the surface and how he was changing. He hoped that his mother found the cure quickly for him. He didn't want to frighten his sister nor his friends anymore.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Kira spoke up again. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No…" Cagalli shook her head before she tilted her head to the side, "Kira, what do you remember about the battle with OMNI?"

"Just recently?" he blinked, surprise at her sudden question.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I went to stop Taylor from destroying the _Archangel's_ engines and then took a shuttle over to _Eternal_ before flying out in Freedom and found you guys taking out the Destroy Gundams," he said, "I tried to stop Griever from destroying the three _Heracles-class_ ships, but…I guess I failed, didn't I?"

"The Murasame interfered…" Cagalli supplied for him and Kira nodded, seeing a brief vague image of the Murasame Gundam flash through his head. A part of him wondered why he hadn't included that little detail, but he ignored it.

"Yeah…" he glanced up at his sister, "where can I find Griever?"

"I thought you don't want anything to do with him," Cagalli looked angry.

"I don't," he shook his head, "I just want some answers…"

"We threw him in one of the cells. I still say he should shot into space without a helmet," she groused, folding her hands over her chest.

Kira laughed lightly, glad that Cagalli could always cheer him up. "I think we can do that after we stop Mendel."

"Oh…if you're feeling better, Captain Ramius says there will be a briefing tomorrow morning before we head to Mendel to stop it. I dunno if ZAFT or OMNI received Lacus' warnings or the LF's call for aide to stop the colony from dropping on Earth, but we're going to try to stop it before it can hit the point of no return."

"We called for aide?" he scratched the back of his head.

"You don't remember?" her eyes grew wide.

"I think you might have mentioned it when I first woke up…but it's a bit fuzzy," he sort of remembered something about asking Athrun, Cagalli, and Lacus what was going on when he woke up, but the most distinctive thing he remembered from that was attacking Griever with his powers.

"Well, don't forget about the briefing tomorrow morning if you're up for it. It's at 0800," she clapped him on the shoulder.

Kira got up, "Thanks." He gathered the rest of his finished food on the tray.

"You're leaving?"

"I think I should see Griever before anything else…"

"Then let me come with you," she started to get up but he shook his head.

"It's all right…" he replied, "if we do use our…powers…then I don't want you getting hurt in the process."

"I'll be fine! Let me come with you!"

"Cagalli, no…" his eyes blazed with a brief wash of anger before he suppressed it violently, "please…I'll be fine…"

She didn't look happy but sighed, "Fine. If you're not out in two hours, I'm calling in Athrun and Lacus along with your parents to take you out of there and beat the living crap out of that bastard."

He nodded, "Two hours then."

* * *

A few minutes later, he was walking down to the holding cells aboard the _Eternal_, feeling a bit stronger with the food that he ate. He could still feel some residual dizziness and the occasional twinge of pain, but he was able to ignore them. He knew Cagalli was worried about him and he had felt it himself while he was between his waking states during the time he was brought out of Freedom's cockpit and up until he fully awakened. There were odd black spots in his memory, even in his dreams that had started to fragment and none of it made sense. 

He knew that Griever had to have the answers as it seemed that the clone always did. He didn't want to worry his sister too much and therefore didn't tell her the extent of the unusual black spots.

The guard at the main door to the cells nodded as he recognized him before opening it and he stepped through. The metallic door closed behind him with a thunk and he turned slightly to his right where Griever was sitting in one of the six large cells aboard the _Eternal_.

"So, you've finally woken up," his clone greeted him with his usual smirk.

"No thanks to you," he shot back, rubbing his forehead slightly as the headache was now roaring quite forcefully in his head. Its throbbing pulse made him want to yank his brains and nerve endings out until he didn't feel it anymore, but he suppressed the violent urge. There was no need to get angry…yet… No need to throttle the clone up the wall and teleport him out to space where he could die from decompression.

He turned and walked the few steps separating them between the bars and stared down at the clone who was sitting on the bed, still half dressed in his flightsuit. "You've got answers."

"And I'm presuming you've got questions?" Griever snorted and gave smiled at him, "so ask away, Kira."

"What is happening to me?" he asked in his most neutral voice.

"I told you, it's the drugs given to you," Griever replied, "I am you, you are me."

"I am not you, a killer, murderer, assassin," he said feeling annoyed, "I was never you. If you want ironies, you're me. You're a clone of me!"

"True," Griever's eyes flashed dangerously, "but you did kill and murder didn't you? During the war?"

Kira knew those words were meant to goad him into anger, but he forced himself to be calm and stared at his clone-brother. "I did. And I'm not proud of it. I killed Athrun, Dearka, and Yzak's teammate Nicol during the war. I killed their friend Miguel. I killed a lot of people during the war two years ago and I am not proud of it. But I am proud that I am able to save people's lives right now. Can you say the same for yourself?"

His words clearly had an effect on Griever as he sat back slightly and stared at him. Narrowed purple eyes appraised him and Kira inwardly smirked. Let his clone-brother stew on that…they were completely different people and it would stay that way. He would never stoop to Griever's level…

The clone suddenly stood up and walked to the other side of the cell, staring at the wall, hands clasped behind his back. "You're experiencing withdrawal effects from the drug that Patrick Zala and his cronies injected into you."

"I'm not feeling anything like extreme hunger or thirst," Kira replied.

"It's not that type of withdrawal. It's different," Griever didn't turn around, "You were able to use the tendrils to great effectiveness during your stay at Martius Eight I presume. Well, now that you're back, whenever you see the tendrils those are the withdrawal effects."

Kira was confused. But he didn't feel anything…it felt….normal at times to use the tendrils…but yet other times it hurt his injuries badly.

"You feel it when you come out of using them. Your injuries are worst than what you had before; you don't really remember what happened during those times. Those are the withdrawal effects," he said in a quiet voice before finally turning around and faced him.

"But…that didn't happen all the time," Kira murmured mostly to himself, not noticing the curious expression Griever's face.

"As I said before during our little training session before we were interrupted by OMNI. You will eventually die from using the tendrils," Griever walked over to stand in front of him, the only thing separating them was the bars of his cell.

Kira's head shot up in shock as he stared at the clone. He was joking right? He hadn't believed a word the clone said during the training session, knowing that it was all a ploy to get him angry, to force him to use the tendrils. "You're lying."

"Do I look like I'm lying?" Griever stared at him, his eyes hard as crystals.

"I don't know," Kira countered, getting angry, "you seem to have that habit of lying to everyone to get within their good graces. You did it to deceive Lacus and the others."

"I only stay because Lacus is like a mother to me!" Griever suddenly shouted at him. "She takes care of me! Knows what I am! She was the only one who I saw caring in her eyes! You try finding that when the only thing you've known is killing others and being born as the Ultimate Coordinator's clone! You try finding that when you know you're walking in the great Kira Yamato's shadow! That you can never have what is his! You can never have a life like his because you are going to die in a short while!"

Kira suddenly stumbled back as his vision was assaulted with images of what looked like fragmented pieces of memories, of dark spots…colors…and what seemed to be a jumbled image of a brain that looked like there were holes in it. He shook his head as the images disappeared from his vision and realized that his breathing was labored. Sweat dripped down his face as he glanced up at Griever who was supporting himself against the bars, sweat also dripping down his face.

"Fragments…" Griever breathed heavily, "fragments of memories…that's what's the first to go…" He looked up and Kira met those purple eyes which were exactly like his…

"I'm dying…and I don't have long to live. At most…probably a couple of days left…"

Kira felt himself slowly sliding down to sit on the cold ground of the cell area as he stared at Griever who crumpled to the floor, silent tears running down his face. His head leaned back against the wall he had pushed himself against as he realized what Griever's words meant.

With his memories and black spots in them…he was starting to have fragmented memories too. Which meant…he was also going to die…soon…

_Cagalli…_

_Athrun…_

…_Lacus…_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Notes:**

Yay! I finally finished this chapter! Everything was coming together for this! Hee hee! I hope you all like it and the end is in sight! I think there are either about 3-4 chapters left after this before Arbiter Forces ends and then I can get cracking on Destiny Falling! Now…who wants to kill Griever and who wants to hug him? Thank you for all of your comments and reviews about what to do for Destiny Falling. As of now, I am currently planning to write it as a re-write of _GSD_, except with my own elements of plot thrown in. None of those stupid Messiah superweapons and stupid Destroy Gundam involved. Superweapons are overrated…like the Death Star. That's why it blew up!


	22. Interlude II

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

_**An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising**_

**Story:**

**Author's Note:**

I recommend playing FictionJunction's "Akatsuki no Kuruma" through this chapter…

_Phase Twenty-Two – Interlude II_

Athrun was glad Kira was almost back to his usual self, fully recovered and in good spirits as they sat in the mess hall aboard the _Eternal_. Lacus was overseeing final preparations with Captain Bartfield before they headed out the next day to intercept Mendel and destroy it. Cagalli had returned to the _Babylon_ to check on the ship and also to talk with the _Kusanagi's_ captain. She had said she would return in a few hours and he was glad…he wanted to stay with her before they launched early tomorrow morning.

The technicians were working miracles aboard the _Archangel_. Its engines almost completely repaired with the equipment salvaged by the workers from Heliopolis' remnants and also with some spare parts given by the _Kusanagi_. The ship would be ready to launch with them tomorrow on their assault.

He briefly wondered if Kira was experiencing any memory loss like Griever did, but based on what Cagalli had told all of them after his best friend went to see the clone in his cell, it seems that he had fuzzy memories, but it could have been speculated that it was battle stress or that he was seriously injured at the time. So there was no conclusive results.

He decided to put the issue in the back of his mind and instead focus on what was happening…which was his best friend attempting to childishly throw food at him. "Kira…you're what, eighteen?"

"So?" Kira grinned, lifting up the spoon further. It was covered in some unidentifiable gravy that Athrun didn't want all over him. He shook his head as his best friend laughed lightly and put the spoon down. "Come on, lighten up, Athrun, you're too tense. Is this how you always are just before a battle!"

"Well what about you?" he countered, "you throw food at others?"

"No, I just-" Kira abruptly shut up as Athrun knew he had hit a sore spot. There was pain in his best friends eyes and he knew that whatever pre-battle happenings his best friend did to calm himself down…it was bringing up bad memories.

"Hey," he reached out and gripped his shoulder firmly, "sorry about that…we'll just leave it, all right?"

"Yeah," Kira looked like he was struggling with something but decided against saying anything. He thought he heard him whisper a name, but didn't quite catch it. It sounded a lot like 'Flay' but he wasn't too sure. He knew that during the last days of the war two years ago, Kira had mentioned that the girl ZAFT had been holding prisoner and that the _Dominion_ had picked up was Flay, a girl he had hurt badly, but didn't go into any details.

Athrun didn't know the general facts of what had transpired between Kira and Flay, but from what he had gathered from the crew of the _Archangel_ and from snippets Cagalli told him, they were romantically and possibly even physically involved. And that the relationship had ended badly between the two of them…

Apparently, Flay played a strong part in the pre-battle jitters that Kira had before going out to battle…

"Come on; let's take a walk, all right? It'll stop you from throwing food into my face, okay?" he shook Kira's shoulder and immediately noticed his mood lightening.

Dumping the rest of his leftover food into the cleaning bin he and Kira headed out of the mess hall and started wandering aimlessly through the corridors of the _Eternal_.

"What do you think would have happened if the war between Coordinators and Naturals didn't start?" Kira suddenly asked.

"I dunno…I had been hoping that your parents and you would have moved to PLANT," he shrugged.

"Yeah…Mom and Dad thought so at first, but I think when Uzumi Attha proposed Heliopolis, it gave them the opportunity to live as Natural parents," Kira replied.

"Father would have protected your Mom and Dad. Besides, they did get along pretty well," he quieted at the thought. Did his Father truly get along with Keiji and Kanoko Yamato? Or did he know that Keiji was the Black Ops person he had hired and that Kanoko was a rogue scientist on the run from Mendel? He realized he would truly never know as his father was dead. The clone running the whole debacle with Mendel right now wasn't even his father, just an insane man who claimed to be Patrick Zala.

"I guess," Kira shrugged, "I just wonder what it would be like if none of this happened…"

"Well, for one, you'd probably have a collection of Haros like Lacus does," Athrun tried to lighten the mood between them.

"Oh God," Kira slapped his hand to his forehead, "you do know…you're insane to build that many Haros for her."

"I know…" Athrun was glad he could make his best friend smile and keep his mind off of other things, "they were floating all around the _Eternal_ when she first launched it to the point where Captain Bartfield told her to please keep at least all of them except Pink-chan in lock-up."

"God…they're still loose all over the place. Did you see her room on this ship? They were trying to escape. And it's your entire fault, Athrun," Kira mock glared at him.

"No, they still have some of the leftover programming of swear words you had when you set them upon both Cagalli and Lacus," he countered with a raised eyebrow.

"No, those were Cagalli's own Haros that I reprogrammed…"

"Oh shit…do you mean I programmed the wrong ones?"

"I thought you gave different multi-colored ones to both Lacus and Cagalli?" Kira was confused.

"No…" Athrun shook his head, "they were all based on the blueprints I had before…"

"Does that mean there are two Pink-chans running loose?" Kira looked appalled.

"Uh…"

"Myta, myta! Haro genki desu!" the electronic chirp of Lacus' familiar Pink-chan startled them into turning around and they saw both Lacus and Cagalli walking towards them, the pink-colored Haro in the lead.

Athrun and Kira both glanced at one another and then at the Haro before collapsing into fits of random laughter; leaving the two women who approached them very confused, but also very happy. It had been a long time since they had heard laughter from each of their loved ones.

* * *

Later that night in the wee hours before the beginning of the final effort to stop Colony Mendel from being dropped, Athrun found himself staring at Cagalli's sleeping form, curled up next to him. She had asked him if she could stay with him for the night, no one night stand of sorts, but just to keep him company and he said it was fine by him. He had slept a few hours and knew that he should get some more since he would be facing off against the forces amassed at Mendel and possibly both OMNI and ZAFT.

But he knew what had woken him up. It was the conversation he had with Kira earlier that day. He knew that he had kept up a façade of nothing being wrong just to prevent partially himself, and partially Kira from slipping into a depression of sorts…but he also sensed that Kira had also put up a façade of his own. And it worried him.

He sat up, leaning his body against the wall that the bed was attached to. Glancing down at Cagalli's peaceful form, a small smile worked its way to his lips as he stared at her. She would be devastated if Kira died before a cure could be found…they all would be devastated. Turning his gaze to stare at the near darkness of the room, he wondered how this was all going to end…

"Athrun…?" Cagalli's sleepy voice made him look down again to see her blink her eyes and stare up at him.

"Did I wake you?" he whispered, "I'm sorry…"

"No…couldn't sleep that well," she gave a small yawn and covered it with the back of her hand.

He nodded as they sat in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"Do you think Kanoko will find the cure?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"She will, have hope and faith," Athrun replied reaching out and brushing a few strands of her sun-kissed blonde hair out of her eyes. "She'll find it and Kira won't have to deal with this mess anymore."

"I know…" Cagalli turned her head further into the pillow and Athrun thought she had gone back to sleep when he heard what sounded like muffled sobs from her. It was then he realized her body was quivering and she was crying.

"Cagalli?" he scooted over slightly and turned her face from the pillow only to see streams of tears falling down her face. A strike of fear pierced through him as he saw the tears and immediately pulled her closer to him. Her hands gripped his night shirt tightly as she buried her face into his shoulder, trying to muffle the sobs wracking her body.

"Please," Athrun tried to soothe her, holding her tightly, "don't cry…" Even as he said the words, he tasted something salty on his lips and with a free hand reached up and found that he too was crying. "D-Don't cry…"

"H-He's my brother…I-I can't lose him…not now…" she sobbed into his shirt.

Athrun closed his eyes and grounded his teeth together. "I know," he managed past a painful lump in his throat, not caring that the silent tears in his eyes were falling freely, "I know…he's my best friend…"

"_The memory loss quickly gives way to failure of the brain along with the major organs. Depending on the person, it could be a short or long process before death takes them."_

_Kira…don't leave us…not like this_, Athrun thought silently as the two of them held each other, crying, praying, that a cure could be found before death took one of their dearest companions.

* * *

Kira stared up at the ceiling of the room he was in aboard the _Eternal_. Sleep eluded him completely and he felt it was a bit appropriate after all; he had been sleeping a lot since he was rescued from Patrick Zala's freak house in the PLANTs.

"You should try to rest your eyes at least," the soft voice of Lacus spoke next to him as she shifted her body underneath the covers.

He turned to stare at her luminous blue eyes and the soft smile she wore with those eyes. "I thought you were sleeping…"

She gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, "I can feel that you were completely tense and not relaxed."

"I'm fine…just…thinking…" he let his gaze roam the ceiling again.

"Do you regret…" she trailed off and he stared at her again, shaking his head.

"No…never with you…" he replied, reaching over and gently stroking her cheek before placing a kiss on her forehead. He let his head drop to her ear and whispered in it, "Never…"

Lying back on the pillow, he watched as she wrapped the bed covers closer around her body and gave him a small smile. "What are you thinking about?"

"When we can finally end the useless bloodshed and fighting…" he replied with a sigh, hoping that she couldn't see through his lie. He had been trying to piece the memory together…and it had been fuzzy, but he had a faint image of sleeping next to someone before…she had red hair…that was about the extent of that memory. He had also been trying to piece together when he had first met Lacus…and even then, it was a bit fuzzy.

She was quiet for a few minutes before another shift in the blankets told him that she was still awake. "He's not evil, you know? This incarnation…"

"Why does he trust you completely? Why do you trust him completely?" he asked, knowing who she was talking about.

"Because he had the same pain in his eyes like when I first met you, Kira," he turned to see her staring evenly at him.

"He's a clone-"

"He's you…naïve, stubborn, kind-hearted, but unable to express it as freely as you do…" Lacus whispered, giving him a light kiss on the lips, "I think he finally understands what it means to be loved by someone…"

Kira let loose a long sigh and pursed his lips. "Do you want me to give him a chance, is that it?" He still remembered their brief conversation in the cells and it still horrified him at his own mortality.

"No," she shook her head slightly, "I don't want you to give him a chance, just…accept him as he is."

"A clone of me, trained assassin, who tried to kill you," he frowned.

"No…another person of their own will. He's not you, Kira. He may look, act, and sometimes connect and think like you, but he is not you…" Lacus gently touched his cheek, drawing him back to stare at her radiant blue eyes, "to me, he is a casualty of the selfishness of war."

"And what am I? A casualty too?" he asked.

"To me, you are the hope of the future," she replied.

Kira let a small smile appear on his lips and drew her closer to him, wrapping an arm around her waist, letting her head rest against his bare chest. He rested his chin on top of her head, lightly breathing in the smell of her shampoo before placing a kiss on top of her head. "Thank you Lacus," he whispered and felt her hands slip into his.

"Sleep Kira…we will have all of the time tomorrow," she whispered and not too long after, her breathing evened out.

He stayed awake a little longer and stared out at the starry view through the portal of the room. "I'm sorry Lacus," he whispered a hush apology, "I just may not have a future after tomorrow…"

* * *

Even during his tenure in ZAFT, Dearka always had a hard time falling asleep before missions and this was even worst. He knew that they had to stop Mendel at any cost, even their own lives and while he was willing to die as a soldier of the LF, he still wished someone would come around and whack him over the head for a few hours of needed rest.

Still, as he rolled over to the other side of his bunk, taking some of the blanket he had over him and twisting it further, they had come a long way. As fledgling as the Liberation Forces were, Dearka had no regrets the day he had surrendered to the Archangel and went AWOL. Even though his relationship with Miriallia was a bit rocky right now, he knew that he would protect her with all of his life and might.

Dearka softly snorted as he heard Yzak's words float through his head. "You're a hopeless romantic Elsman."

* * *

Yzak on the other hand was able to sleep peacefully under any circumstances. He remembered during one of their first missions right after they had graduated, Nicol had commented that he slept through a mock drill and almost got in trouble. However, the youngest member of the Le Creuset Team also saw that he was completely alert and awake during a real battle…and attributed to the genes he was given.

However, in recent days since their escape from Martius to Heliopolis he had been having nightmares. Those nightmares involved the pilot of the Freedom and what he did to Riley Onoko during their escape. He had seen the looks Yamato's father had given him and knew that the old man was offering a chance to talk about it, but Yzak spurned his efforts. He was a Joule, a soldier, one who wouldn't easily be scared by such supernatural stuff such as that.

But that didn't mean it still disturbed him.

_Freak…_

_

* * *

_

Murrue opened and closed the locket that was from her first boyfriend, the mobile armor pilot… She glanced at the clock that was in it and sighed before closing the locket again and turning to her side to face the wall of her quarters.

"Mu…" she whispered. There was nothing of his possessions that she could remember him by, except a photograph of them taken in Orb before OMNI attacked the country.

She curled up in her blankets, closing her eyes and forcing herself to sleep. Her hands tightened around the locket as she fell asleep.

* * *

Onboard the _Isis_ floating near the slowly tumbling Mendel, Quinn Misali sipped on some self-brewed tea, knowing that sleep was never coming to him at this hour. He sat in the near darkness, the only light a faint glow coming from his computer monitor that was lit up in front of him, bathing him in its blue glow.

Movies that were taken of him and Madison along with her newborn, Riley, was playing, the sound on mute. That was taken two years before he had met Keiji Yamato and before Keiji received his orders to terminate the escaped scientists from Mendel. He barely glanced at the moving pictures and instead stared out into his quarters at nothing in particular, his thoughts far away.

Quinn had no doubt that he wouldn't live to see the day after, after what he did to the LF. They were going to be after his blood and while he was glad, he knew that while he was still breathing, he had a job to do and was going to finish it. He had nothing left…his family killed, his career destroyed, his friends spurned…

Taking another sip of his tea, he shut off the computer and stood up. Setting the cup down, he glanced at the photo he had of Madison and Riley, his daughter only seven in that picture, before walking out of his quarters.

It was time to put an end to this.

* * *

Kanoko Yamato stared at the vial that held some of her son's blood and watched the testing strip carefully. Its color slowly changed from red to purple to black and stayed at black. "No!" she whispered fiercely, being careful not to wake her husband who was sleeping in the nearby bunk, taking all the rest he could in preparation for his team to land on Mendel and clear out any remnants and destroy the colony from within.

She had volunteered during the briefing to go with him, but Keiji had told her not to, saying that she was needed on the ship. The implied message was that she needed to find the cure so that Kira wouldn't die and she got that message.

That was why she was still up, conducting tests on various samples with no successful results yet. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and grabbed the cup of coffee that she had picked up in the mess hall aboard the _Babylon_. Draining it with a frown on her face, she put the mug back down and blinked tiredly at the words on her computer. Even with the notes that her husband had stole from Dr. Francis and the information provided by Griever, she still couldn't find a way to replicate the cure. She was racking her brain to find every single conceivable way to figure out how to cure her son. It wasn't nano-tech, nor was it gene therapy… What had made the three psychotic pilots on death row so equal to Coordinators in the war two years ago? It baffled her…

She typed in a few more notes and sighed wearily before rubbing her eyes to force herself to see the words on her computer in a straight line instead of double and blurred. There had to be something missing…something that she overlooked…

She flipped through the data again, some of them she had printed out, some of them she had left on her computer. There had to be a cure! Glancing over at the clock on her computer screen, she stifled a yawn with the back of her hand before clicking a few buttons to set up an alarm. Perhaps a short little two hour nap might do her good…

Finding that the alarm had been set and was sure to wake her up, she grabbed one of the spare pillows on the bed that Keiji hadn't rolled over onto and put it on top of her arms before resting her head on it. In less than five seconds, she was fast asleep with a frown of urgency on her face.

* * *

The twilight hours of the early morning hours were quiet aboard the _Eternal_, especially in the cells. However, one man was staring out into the deep dark of space, now illuminated by the bright distance objects of the PLANTs, the twinkling debris of the approaching Debris Field, and the blue-white vastness of the Earth.

Griever had already put on his flightsuit in preparation for combat that was occurring in a few hours. It was only through the intervention of Lacus Clyne that he got approval to fight in the Ragnarok. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing himself to stay calm as he stared out of the window of his cell. He had been moved to a different cell from his original one and given a little more creature comfort by the crew of the Eternal, on Lacus' orders of course, but even then, it didn't distill the anxiety he was feeling.

No, he wasn't scared of the upcoming battle…he was more scared that he could feel his life draining away, second by second. It was just an effort to stay awake through the night; and his fear that he was going to slip away into the dark abyss that was death if he closed his eyes and fell asleep. No, he had to stay alive just a little longer…just enough so that he could finish his mission.

Finish what he started.

Curling his knees up to his chest, he rested his chin on them and folded his arms together. A light of determination shone in his eyes as he mentally prepared himself for what he was going to do.

It was time to rectify certain issues.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter is the bane of my existence. It almost made me want to stop writing in this story. There is something about this interlude that made me scream in frustration. It's jumbled and I don't like it. I hope I was true to the characters so far in this chapter, but I might end up re-writing it some time in the near future when _Arbiter Forces_ is completed. Otherwise, here's the chapter for you to read.

Oh yeah, for those who forgot terminology:

LF Liberation Forces (and what GSD totally ripped off an called Terminal – hmph)

OMNI/OMNI Enforcer Oppose Militancy & Neutralize Invasion Enforcer

Thank you for all of those that reviewed! I love you all and thank you for staying by me all this time! We are rapidly heading towards the finale of _Arbiter Forces_ and _Destiny Falling_ will be coming soon! Oh yes, and for a treat, here's a sample part of _Destiny Falling's_ tentative Phase 1!

* * *

**DESTINY FALLING – SAMPLE PHASE ONE**

C.E. 74 – 3 years after the Armistice Treaty, 1 year after the Talon Incident

Cagalli Yula Attha resisted the urge to rub her eyes tiredly in the current meeting she was having with her advisors. As Leader of Orb she was beginning to see why her father had always come home at night with such a tired expression on his face. Dealing with these lot of politicians was worst than dealing with the Senate's politicians.

The Talon's uprising almost a year ago had been suppressed though not without a lot of scandal involved. In the ensuing year, Senator Amalfi had resigned his position and retired to live the quiet life in PLANT. That only left Lacus as her only supporter in the Senate. But even Lacus was dividing her time between her duties as one of PLANT's representatives to the Senate and her career as a pop idol singer.

In the year since the Talon bombed the Senate building, it was hard trying to keep the peace between the Earth Alliance and PLANTs. There were times both parties had reduced themselves to bickering amongst each other in the Senate and she had to yell for them to shut up until her voice was hoarse. Those were also the times that she knew her brother avoided her – as not to draw her wrath that she had accumulated during the day.

But even her anger wasn't palpable when facing her advisors and the governmental body of Orb. This was beyond anger…this was her being plain furious at them. She knew she held a lot of sway with the people of Orb, partially due to her actions in the Senate and during the war three years ago, and partially because she was Uzumi Nara Attha's daughter. She was the Lioness of Orb, as some had already started coining the nickname for her. She supposed it was better than being whispered as the Cub of Orb.

And the Lioness wasn't happy with what was being discussed at the moment.

"We should consider the armament deal with the Earth Alliance as more profits for this country. After all, we did help them build the Strike, Aegis, Duel, Blitz, and Buster Gundams along with the _Archangel_ during the first war three and half years ago," Yuuna Roma Seran was saying.

"Orb will not be building arms for anyone anymore," Cagalli interjected, glaring at the purple-haired man. Ever since she became leader of Orb, she had been getting constant marriage proposals and by far, the most aggressive was probably from Yuuna. And while she knew any other girl would have been flattered, Cagalli was no ordinary girl. She detested the idea of marriage and rather spend her time with Athrun, but she did know that marriage for political purposes may serve as an alliance of sorts.

It was also why she had received quite a few proposals from important people in both PLANT and Earth Alliance circles. Any marriage to either one of the two parties would immediately see disaster for the other…and probably an instant declaration of war.

At least the Liberation Forces were keeping tabs on both Earth Alliance and PLANT for anything suspicious. She was glad the LF was created…it at least kept some of the violence toned down by combing ships from OMNI, ZAFT, and Orb itself. While the LF was directly independent of any military influence, they did have strong ties to Orb and reported directly to her. However, Cagalli knew that if Orb was to choose a side in a war, then the LF would fight to prevent that from happening and to pull Orb back into its neutral state.

"The investment we have gained and the increase in technology, Lady Cagalli, it stands in the stocks that the PLANTs have greater technology than we do, especially in the field of mobile suits," one of the other advisors spoke up gravely.

"Any armament deal with either the Earth Alliance or PLANT is like inviting war back into our yards again," Cagalli slammed a hand down on the long table firmly, giving each of them a hard stare, "do you really want to be thrown back into another war?"

"Look, all we are saying is that we should consider it. After all, this will give us a chance to acquire new technology that we _could_ use to prevent another war? We can use this technology to fund the Liberation Forces," Unato, Yuuna's father said in his oily silky voice and she narrowed her eyes.

The way he had worded how it could help the LF…it was like it was all her fault somehow. "The LF was created to be independent from Orb, if I may remind you," she stared at them, "while their funds are mainly provided by this country, need I remind you that both PLANT and the Earth Alliance also fund the LF and provide their ships to co-exist peacefully?"

"We can hide it under the budget, Lady Cagalli," one of the other ministers spoke up and she shook her head vehemently.

"No," she stood up, "I do not want any armament deal with either PLANT or the Earth Alliance. Have you forgotten that Morganroete belongs to us? We created our own mobile suits to defend the country three years ago. We can still do it without any help from others."

Giving each one of them another glare for good measure she calmed her voice down, "If there is no other pressing matter-"

The clearing of Unato's throat made her stare at the older man who was adjusting his glasses. "There have been rumors that you have been getting an increase in marriage proposals…the Council were wondering if any of these provided an alliance of sorts with either PLANT or the Earth Alliance."

"Those proposals are none of you concern," Cagalli shot back, feeling her anger mount again.

"Pardon your forgiveness, Princess, but if these marriage proposals are influencing your decision not to side with one or the other, then it will hinder our efforts to coordinate the peace and prosperity of our country," Unato said in a delicate tone as Cagalli started to see red in her vision.

How dare they….how dare they imply…

It was an effort to calm herself down and when felt she had enough control over her voice, she stared at Unato in the coldest glare she could manage, "My personal life is none of your concern. You'll do well to remember that." With that, she spun on her heel and walked out of the door, barely slamming the door shut behind her. She stalked down the halls and headed out of the government building, making everyone in her path slide to the walls or to different hallways to avoid her angry glare and potential wrath.

**Author's Add-on: Yup, that's it. **


	23. Arbiter

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

_**An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising**_

**Story:**

_Phase Twenty-Three – Arbiter_

Athrun blasted the nearest GINN apart with his beam rifle and twisted around to avoid the heated axe of another that had tried to creep up on him. He skimmed the surface of a large piece of debris and holstered his beam rifle, whipping out his double beamed saber instead. Immediately, he skewered and chopped apart two other GINNs. Glancing back, he saw all four ships engaged in a fierce firefight with Zala's forces.

"Barton! Status!" he called over the comm. to the leader of the Astrays, having received a promotion to full Lieutenant in absence of Ami Dena's death.

"The team's landed! We're headed back to support the Archangel," Barton's reply came over.

"Good," he turned around and headed back to the ships, intent on supporting them. There was nothing they could do to take out the defense of Mendel as the former colony was already half-shelled out and dead. It was up to Keiji Yamato's team to disable and destroy the weapon.

Checking his HUD as he took out two Strike Daggers that had been firing at him, he noticed that the blip that was supposed to be the Ragnarok was flying _away_ from the battle…not towards them.

"Griever!" he immediately patched a comm. through to the Ragnarok, his hand hovering over the self-destruct button that had been specifically installed in the mobile suit. "Where the hell are you going?!"

"Abandoning your post?!" Cagalli's angry protest came over from the Babylon, having decided not to pilot the Strike Rouge in the assault and instead was going to command her ship.

There was no answer from the mobile suit and Athrun's fingers inched further down on the button as he ducked behind a slab of debris, making sure that he wasn't spotted by any of the enemy mobile suits so he could figure out what the hell the clone was doing.

"Griever! Answer me!" he shouted, angry. He knew that the clone was going to betray them! It was only a matter of time. What lies had they been fed from the clone?! It was all a set up. There probably was a bomb located on each of the ships and Griever was just clearing himself from the blast radius. Better to destroy the enemy ships and his own ships than to let anyone else interfere with Patrick Zala's mad plans.

"I am headed to Martius Eight," was the cold reply and Athrun narrowed his eyes, fury raging in him.

"So you have betrayed us…you were just faking your alliance and everything else. You saved Lacus just so you could get close to us," he said, disappointment in his voice. He still couldn't believe he let his guard down so much, and even allowed Griever to live despite his own inner protests. He couldn't believe that it had come this far and now they were going to be betrayed. Why? Why did Griever do it?! Anger filled him and he brought out his beam rifle once more, setting the scope-

"Let him go, Athrun," Kira's voice broke through his concentration just as a GINN flew by and spotted him. He immediately launched into action, firing at the GINN who ducked and dodged his rifle before he finally nailed him straight in the gut. The GINN exploded, showering the area with more debris.

"Kira?" he asked, as he put away his rifle and brought out his double beamed sabers again. Flying back into the fray, he tried to spot where the Freedom was and found it wrecking havoc in a furious path of destruction. There were at least two squads of mobile suits surrounding the distinctive blue-white suit, but Athrun watched as his best friend dispatched them with the scariest of ease with his twin beam sabers. However…he also noticed that Kira wasn't aiming to disable…he was aiming to kill.

"He's the only one," Kira's voice was oddly detached as he flew through the cloud of debris and towards another squad of Strike Daggers and GINNs. "He's the only one that can stop Zala."

"What?!" Athrun was confused. He had heard that the mission to assassinate Zala had failed, but what did Griever have to do with it?

"Just let him go, Athrun," Kira replied softly, "he can't harm us anymore."

"Kira…" he whispered, hearing what sounded to him like agony in his best friend's voice. "All right."

"Thank you," Kira replied before they cut the comm. connection.

Athrun returned his focus onto the battle and flew back towards the fray. He noticed on his HUD new blips and those blips resolved themselves into two different forces he had hoped were allies. ZAFT and OMNI.

"This is Captain Alexei Terazuma of the _Bernoulli_, ZAFT forces. All of Zala's forces will surrender or be destroyed. We do not condemn the mass slaughter of innocents, whether or not they are Naturals or Coordinators," a broadband transmission emanated from the lead ZAFT ship.

"This is Colonel Haili Kawalsky of the _Artemis_. OMNI forces will defend the Earth from any attack. We will not this terrorist who claims to be Patrick Zala rule over our fears anymore! All hands, defend the Liberation Forces and attack Zala's ships!" another broadband transmission cut in and Athrun watched, eyes wide, as the OMNI and ZAFT ships launched their contingents of mobile suits at the _Isis_ and its small fleet.

It was really happening…both OMNI and ZAFT agreeing on a common enemy and attacking at the same time. He had thought that he was seeing things…

Giving a quick shake of his own head, he focused back on the battle and entered seed-mode, seeing things in a much clearer and sharper quality. "Barton! Tanim! Concentrate your fire on the _Isis_ and _Reliquary_! Yzak, Dearka, status!"

"Yes sir!" came the quick reply from the two Astray commanders.

"Minimal damage, we're good," Yzak replied, "we're headed to the far side of Genesis with a couple of units that just joined us."

"Good, notify me by light when you've reached it," he replied. A quick plan was forming in his head and he patched a comm. Through to the _Archangel_ and _Babylon_. "Captain Ramius, Cagalli, we're going to try a two-pronged ambush attack on the fleet. The Duel and Buster are headed to the far side along with some ZAFT and OMNI suits."

"Roger that, I'm sending over the _Kusanagi_ and _Eternal_ to cover them," Murrue came back as her picture shuddered slightly from missiles impacting the _Archangel_.

The connection shut off and Athrun sped towards where the Freedom was engaging a slew of mobile suits, determined to help his friend no matter what happened. They had to stop Genesis and win this battle or else there was no future for them.

* * *

Griever unconsciously rubbed his chest, feeling twinges of pain spreading like sharp knives from his left side all the way up to his shoulders. It felt like an atrophied neck muscle, but he knew better than that. He pushed his Ragnarok to the limits, knowing that each second wasted was a second longer that enabled Genesis to fire.

For a second back there in the fierce battle between Zala's forces and the LF, he had thought that Athrun Zala and Kira Yamato were going to pursue him and shoot him down for abandoning them, but oddly, he had heard both Kira and the pilot named Yzak Joule say to the forces to let him go. They had realized he was the only one capable of stopping Patrick Zala. He just hoped he had enough time to do the job.

He entered Martius Eight's spaceport, ignoring orders from the personnel screaming over his comm. for him to halt and identify himself. Weaving through the complex inner tunnels, he glanced back to see that at least three GINNs were pursuing him.

"Stop! Or we will fire!" the lead GINN called out in the narrow corridor of the tunnels that they were flying through. This was the heart of PLANTs, passageways big enough to fit a mobile suit, the industrial sections where the heart of the colonies was located.

He activated his missiles and targeted the lead GINN and fired. The lone missile flew backwards and hit the GINN dead on, exploding it in a hail of shrapnel and debris, obscuring the other two's vision as he ducked into another tunnel and quickly made a sharp right. Holding his position for a few seconds, he glanced out and saw the other two fly past him, unaware that he had disappeared as their suit's vision capabilities were impaired due to the proximity of the blast.

Confident that no more mobile suits were going to follow him, he flew on towards the secret base Zala had inside Martius Eight. Perhaps those idiotic mobile suit pilots might end up stumbling upon the base too and alert ZAFT and the Supreme Council. He snorted silently…even Coordinators were idiots at times. He highly doubted that they would find him and even if they did, his mission would be completed by the time any forces arrived.

He entered the base and found it surprisingly empty and devoid of any defenses. It wasn't like Zala to have the base so empty…but then again, he couldn't be too sure since it had been a while since he was at the base last. Perhaps the psychotic man did send out all of his forces in the last ditch effort to turn the Earth into an ice ball. Shutting down his Gundam completely, he adjusted the helmet of his flightsuit and took out a pistol, making sure the safety was completely off and opened the hatch.

Slipping quietly out, he floated towards one of the back entrances and landed, immediately sliding himself up against the wall. Holstering his gun, he punched in the code and wore a confident expression on his face as the door slid open and walked into the brightly lit, blank halls.

A new person would find it like a maze, but he knew where he was going and adopted a firm gait as he walked down various halls, the lingering scientists that were there skirting out of his path. A few of them gave him curious looks before whispering to their colleagues, but he ignored them. He made his way without anyone stopping him towards Zala's sanctuary.

Stopping by the door, he took a deep breath and let it out, willing himself to return to the emotionless assassin he was. His weeks in close contact with the LF and especially with Athrun Zala, Kira Yamato, Lacus Clyne, and Cagalli Yula Attha had shattered that fine steeled concentration he always had. It didn't scare him, but just made him feel uneasy, like he was going to slip up somehow.

Palming the door open, he stepped in.

"—atrocities that have devastated our beloved Earth and the PLANTs as well. Nothing would make Orb happier than to be the profiteers within this war. They would liken themselves to the former United States of America after World War II, the only superpower left in the world and thus impose their policy of peace upon rebuilding countries. Do you want your children to grow up under the influence of what a small island nation says you should do? Free choice and free will, will not be present when this war is over if the Orb Union and Liberation Forces win.

"I humbly call upon all citizens to join arms and defeat this menace. We should not endure such a thing! Battle rages upon us all and those that betrayed your military should be promptly executed! We shall have free will."

Patrick Zala gestured grandly to what looked like a camera set up in front of his desk, multiple screens showing the ongoing battle on both Earth and in the Debris Belt happening behind him. Griever stood off to a corner and watched as he finished up his speech and as soon as the red light indicating that the broadcast was going live shut off, he moved away from the shadows and into the glow of the lights that were casting shadows all over the place. Most of those lights were overhead lights hanging to spotlight Zala behind his desk, but a few were hidden behind him to give his picture on camera a quality of depth.

"Griever," Zala greeted him as he sat back down, a tired expression on his face. "I take it your mission was a success?"

Griever stood next to the camera, his hands and stance in a relaxed posture. "Tell me Patrick," he started to roll back and forth on the balls and heels of his feet, "why did I have to kill Lacus Clyne?"

"She's a menace," Patrick replied sharply, "She hinders our plans and she proclaims such falsities that we can do without. Her actions have cost the lives of millions as she tries to avert war."

"But isn't preventing a war good for the population?" he titled his head to the side, "I seem to recall from history books that peacemakers usually try to keep the population alive, not kill it."

"Her words give hesitation to men on the battlefield. That hesitation can't occur in battle or else the enemy would wipe them out. When she spoke her words two years ago, she made many ZAFT soldiers and OMNI ones loose their life just because they hesitated to pull the trigger and their enemy beat them to the punch. She is responsible for all those lives."

"Do you think the Bloody Valentine could have been avoided had she been born earlier?" he stopped his rolling and stared at his creator; the one who gave him life and a name.

"No. Coordinators and Naturals were never meant to co-exist. Our persecution would have culminated into full blown war sooner or later," Zala replied, "we are the next generation of human evolution. We are superior."

"I see," he nodded, "so what about cloning, people like ourselves?"

Zala lifted his head sharply and stared at Griever, "You were not supposed to know that."

"Ah!" Griever gave him a crooked smile, "so I am a clone of the original Griever, who in essentially was a clone of Kira Yamato."

Zala stared at him, eyes narrowed, "You seem to be asking a lot of questions at this day and age. Perhaps some rest before your post mission debriefing is in order?" he reached over to a row of buttons to push one and Griever immediately whipped out his gun and pointed it straight at his head.

"Don't even think about it," he hissed in anger.

If Zala was surprised, he certainly didn't show it in his expression. Instead his hand just hovered over one of the many buttons on the table, the raging battle in the video monitors behind them still flashing strobes of color over their faces. Time seem to stand still for a brief moment before Zala slowly retracted his hand and placed it on his lap.

"Griever, I was only going to call the doctors to help you, not guards or anything," Zala said in a smooth voice.

"No doctors, no guards. Tell me everything Zala, tell me why," he demanded, still keeping his gun straight at the man's head. To his dismay, he could see that his hand was shaking even though it was minute. Damn, his reactions were starting to go.

"Why what?" the man asked.

"Don't give me anymore bullshit. Tell me why all of this? Why cloning? Why did you have to start a new war?" he lashed out with his mind, throwing Zala and the chair he was sitting on back into a section of the screens, breaking them and eliminating a few of the pictures. Immediately he teleported to where Zala sat and grabbed him; hauling him up by the front of his uniform, he slammed him into another monitor screen and shoved the gun into his temple. "Why?!"

"Have you truly killed Lacus-"

"Shut up and tell me!" he cut Zala off viciously, slamming him into the same monitor again, making a few glass pieces fall to the floor in a musical tinkle.

"Very well," Zala glared at him through narrowed eyes, "_you_, are nothing more than an instrument. An instrument that is meant for only one thing. Destruction. You are the slayer and the destruction that will benefit humanity.

"If you were trying to seek something other than killing as the reason to your life, don't even bother. Destroyer. That's what you are," Zala laughed and Griever tightened his grip, forcing his laughter into choked gasps, "don't deny…what you are."

"Lacus gave me a future," he whispered dangerously.

"Oh did she?" Zala hissed out, "if she truly did, why does she and the rest of those rebels look at you with such hatred?"

"She doesn't look at me in such a way," he shot back.

"She only sees you as a sympathetic person. She sees the face of her lover in your face and thus feels an obligation to help you. A charity cause," Zala's cruel smile grew wider and Griever gritted his teeth, anger filling him. The grip on his gun tightened and he pushed the barrel a bit more into Zala's skin, definitely making an impression.

"People like her have no place in our society. Strong survive, weak will die. Anyone who gets in the way of that ideal will be wiped off the face of this Earth," Zala continued, coughing slightly, "you are the product of that ideal. You are the product of the true Ultimate Coordinator…what that ignorant boy, Kira Yamato, should have been."

There were a few minutes of silence that passed between the two before Griever let Zala go and teleported to his original position, behind the camera. His gun hung limply in his right hand. He stared at the door that he came through, his back towards Zala who was picking himself up on the floor, rubbing his neck gingerly.

"Have you seen the light?" Zala whispered before an almost inaudible click told him that from the folds of his uniform, the crazed clone had produced a hand gun and was now pointing it to his head.

"I've seen it," he replied, not turning it around, "and it is a beautiful light. It's the light that brings one potential to humanity. It's the light that you could never see because of your shortcomings. Your hatred blinds you to the light."

He brought his hand up to stare at his gun, "She showed it to me. And she showed me that while I may be a product of the ideal you talk about…I am also myself. I am no one's shadow so long as I choose my own path."

He finally turned around, staring straight at Zala and the gun he held at his head, "Kira may be that Hope that everyone's been searching." The red light on the camera blinked on again, signaling that it was broadcasting once more.

"But I am the Arbiter of that Hope," he declared before teleporting away from the shot that Zala fired at him. He reappeared a few inches from where he was before and fired.

The spurt of blood from the middle of Zala's forehead was the indication that his mark had been true before the clone fell to the ground, eyes opened in a deathly stare of shock, dead.

Griever stared at the battle images for a brief second before exiting Zala's sanctuary. He walked down the halls, noticing that many of the scientists, nurses, and personnel had congregated in the hallways, all whispering and pointing at him as he walked by, headed back to his Gundam. None made any moves to stop him and all were probably too shocked to see Zala shot dead on a live broadcast to do anything.

Instead, they shrank away to give him a wide berth in the halls. He walked calmly back to the hanger bay, taking what was probably the last ironic amusement he knew he was going to have – those stupid people working for Zala were so afraid of him and now were too stunned to do a damn thing. _Poor stupid fools_, a part of him muttered to itself.

He entered the hanger bay where the black-matte paint of his Ragnarok glistened a light dull off the various dim lights in the bay. Entering the cockpit, he sat down and tapped in a few commands, bringing the Ragnarok up to half-power. Its eyes flashed a green that briefly illuminated the whole bay before the soft hum of power told him that it was running smoothly.

Bringing up a data file, he typed in a few things before sending away to both ZAFT, OMNI, and LF forces. It was the coordinates to Zala's base and the message that the threat had been neutralized, just in case none of the bigwigs had caught the execution on live TV in the midst of Zala's fanatical ramblings.

Finally letting his guard down, he could feel a gigantic wave of tiredness and dizziness that he had been holding back for so long, ever since his training with Kira days ago, wash over him. His whole body shook from the massive exhaustion and he gripped the control sticks of his Gundam in an effort to steady himself, but the shaking wouldn't stop.

He knew it was finally time.

As a sleepy feeling washed over him, he could finally see the stars once more. Their pristine beauty twinkling in the distance. He reached up for them and saw those who could have been his brothers and sisters. Those that had died in Hibiki's attempt to create the Ultimate Coordinator. They were his family…they were his true family…and so he reached out for them. They welcomed him into their embrace and he glanced back, wanting to leave one more parting thought as they took him away.

_It's all up to you now, Kira._

In the cockpit of the Ragnarok Gundam, Griever's head hung, eyes closed and no movement of breathing from his chest. Blood dripped out one of his nostrils before it congealed into a liquid ball and floated around his helmet, but no one stopped it.

Nikolai "Griever" Mercus was truly dead.

* * *

Out in the midst of the battle raging in the Debris Belt, the Freedom slashed its way through Zala's forces. Kira had barley paid attention to the insane ramblings that Patrick Zala was broadcasting through the frequency he had hijacked and instead focused his senses on the battle.

Suddenly, Kira clutched his heart as he felt a wave of immense pain followed by a wave of despair that threatened his concentration dangerously. The Freedom wobbled to a halt for a fraction of a second before he regained his senses and pushed both feelings away forcibly and re-engaged the Strike Daggers he was pursuing.

So…Griever was dead.

Kira fell into seed-mode and sharpened his senses. It was up to him to stop the rest of Zala's plans. He sped after the Strike Daggers, beam sabers drawn.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This is probably one of my most favorite chapters in this whole story. I like how it wraps up a major plot point. Sorry for not updating in about 3 months, but it was due to massive amounts of school work piled upon me in the beginning of the semester. One more chapter to go then it's off to _Destiny Falling_!


	24. Hope

Gundam SEED: Arbiter Forces

By: Shadow Chaser

_**An Alternate Universe to Entropy Rising**_

**Warning: **If you cried last chapter, you will definitely need a box of tissues for this one. Oh yeah, the music, "Find the Way" by Mika Nakashima would be also good to play starting half-way through Kira's third POV part…Enjoy!

**Story:**

_Phase Twenty-Four – Hope_

Kanoko sat grimly at the weapons station aboard the _Babylon_. She knew her experiments would have to wait providing they survived this encounter. Even with the combined forces of ZAFT and OMNI backing them up, it was still a tough battle as the fleet Zala had assembled were so loyal to the point that they literally had to shoot them down before damaged ships could kamikaze them.

All four ships belonging to the LF had suffered moderate damage, the _Kusanagi_ being damaged the worst. It seemed that Lieutenant Leah Andrews had a personal vendetta of sorts against her former captain, Quinn Misali, now in charge of Zala's Fleet of ships. The battle data that they had all been given had told them that the _Isis_, still in fighting form with a few scratches on her, was the main flagship of the fleet and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the particular ship was commanded by none other than the traitorous captain.

"Move us more towards the _Kusanagi_, I want back-up," Cagalli ordered from the captain's chair. Kisaka had moved to the CIC area and acted as second-in-command.

"Yes sir," their main pilot replied quickly before new targets blipped onto her screen and she carefully inputted the coordinates and numbers before firing away. From her vantage point in CIC, she could see the determination shining in the young leader of Orb's face and a faint smile came to her lips.

Though she never got the chance to see Cagalli grow up from the baby she was when she carried her and Kira out of Mendel, she felt a kind of motherly affection towards her and knew that her surrogate father Uzumi would have been proud of the strong and idealistic daughter he had raised. She also knew that her real mother, Katherine, would have been equally proud of her headstrong daughter. In many ways, Cagalli embodied Katherine's ideals, but was more forceful about it, much like her real father Ulen.

The thought of the mad scientist made her thoughts turn towards her own son, Kira, who was currently fighting outside. When she and Keiji had found out over two years ago that he had joined up with OMNI and was a mobile suit pilot she had almost completely lost it. Kira wasn't a fighter, she had reasoned, he was too gentle to fight and to kill…

And she knew that the innate talents he had been genetically born with as the Ultimate Coordinator had lead him to a path of fighting, however, righteous he was in his morals, it was still fighting. She had been afraid for him then, and knew that he had come out of the war scarred. Luckily, he had Lacus there for him, gentle and dear Lacus and she knew that he would eventually heal from his wounds. But now…she hoped that it wasn't too late and that a cure could still be found. She had worked all the way up until battle stations were called and even until then, she knew that she was missing something from the cure, but it was eluding her.

Perhaps after this battle was over, after the war was won and peace returned, she would know what was missing and thereby cure her son.

Kanoko was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't pay attention to her screen until a missile impacted the ship, throwing her hard against the restraints in her seat. Jolted out of her thoughts she quickly brought her mind back to the battle and glanced to her left for Kisaka's orders. In the process, she saw the flash of a familiar face…a face that was supposed to be in the _Babylon_'_s_ brig…

…Haruka Satou…holding a knife…

"Cagalli!" Kanoko cried out as her eyes widened in horror.

* * *

"Cagalli!"

Cagalli twisted in her seat just in time to narrowly avoid the sharp knife that tried to cut across her face. Her eyes widened in shock to see the girl known as Haruka Satou with a twisted expression of angry and crazed madness across her face, lunge at her again. With a twist of her hand, she quickly undid her restraining belt and floated free of the chair, grabbing one of its armrests to propel herself away from the knife.

The surprised shouts of the other crew members fell deaf on her ears as she stared at the girl. How did Haruka escape the brig?! They had put at least four guards to keep an eye on her after what Taylor Ren did to the _Archangel_ during their face off with OMNI forces back at the remnants of Heliopolis.

"…Die…die…" Haruka breathed heavily as a wide fanatical smile pulled her lips into a demented Cheshire cat's smile. It was then that she finally noticed that Haruka was holding a combat knife…a bloodied combat knife that looked like it was part of one of the MP's uniforms.

"Haruka, stop!" she pleaded with the girl, knowing that she was probably only influenced by the drugs that they had found within Taylor Ren during the young man's autopsy before they went into battle. It was the same drugs that had been found in Griever and Kira. However, since they were Naturals, the drug affected them far differently and the on-ship mortician had said that it affected the areas of the brain where aggression and memory were controlled, driving the person to become fixated and aggressively pursue a goal to the point of self-destruction.

"You…ruined my LIFE!" Haruka screamed, tears streaming down her face, the crazed smile still plastered on her face as she advanced slowly.

Cagalli noticed that the rest of the crew was still at their stations with the exception of a few, including Kisaka who were trying to ambush Haruka. She shook her head minutely, and Kisaka held back, obeying her orders. They still had a battle to fight…she would deal with Haruka.

"Haruka, calm down…it's the drugs within you," she held her hands out in a placating manner, "you're not well."

The girl gave a harsh high-pitched laugh, "Of course I'm not well. You killed Taylor! You killed my family…of course I wouldn't be well…"

"I killed your family?" she asked, as she backed up away from the front of the bridge and towards the back.

"Oh yes," the crazed girl's eyes flashed dangerously, "don't you remember? You left them for dead in Orb…while your father blew up the mass driver…you abandoned us…"

"My father died in that explosion. I'm sorry," she lowered her hands and hovered near one of the people monitoring the radar. He tapped her back to signal that he had a gun on him and was ready to give it to her at a moment's notice. She made a subtle gesture that she understood. The hand communication meant that the man manning the radar was a part of Kisaka's security team that had been built when she took control of the Council in Orb.

Suddenly she ducked as Haruka charged at her, slashing her knife. But she didn't duck far enough as she felt a line of pain across the top of her head. She instinctively reacted and kicked with her legs, catching the girl across her chest, making her cry out.

BANG!

The sudden discharge of a gun made her looked up to see that the same communication officer had pulled out his gun and shot Haruka in the heart. Silence fell over the bridge as everyone stared at the scene. Cagalli stared at the girl's lifeless body for a few seconds before floating over and closing her eyelids before two soldiers stationed in the back of the bridge came over and took her body away.

She watched them disappear before she turned to stare at the communications officer who had holstered his gun and was now staring blankly at a point, avoiding her gaze.

"Thank you," she said quietly before moving back to her command chair.

Strapping herself back in, she quietly took the offered cloth from Kisaka and dabbed her head, noticing with some dismay that there was a streak of blood running that came off.

"Will you need medical aid, Princess?" Kisaka asked moving back to his chair.

"No," she breathed out evenly before glancing out of the bridge, surprised that Kisaka had moved the _Babylon_ out of the battle so they could deal with the problem. "Bring us back into battle."

That was when she saw the _Kusanagi_ explode, ripped apart by the Genesis that was within Mendel.

"NO!" she shouted, the image of her captain, Lieutenant Andrews forming in her mind in a brief flash before the red destructive beam sliced across some of the OMNI and ZAFT ships that happened to be in the same path as the _Kusanagi_.

* * *

The harsh sound of his breath coming in steady beats rasped in the helmet of form fitting flightsuit. Keiji Yamato pointed to two of his team members to scout ahead before following them along, the rest of his team behind him. Ever since they landed in Mendel, they had found the place complete gutted and filled with explosives. All the computers and terminals had been smashed and Keiji was pretty sure the information that had been hidden about Dr. Hibiki's experiments was discarded to the side. No, whatever Patrick Zala needed he had already received from Mendel long before they had arrived to confront Sven Anderson.

In ways, he was glad that the information was inaccessible. It was one more thing that was supposed to be buried long ago. And now, they were here to finish the job. Not to let Mendel drop to Earth, but to destroy it completely.

"Sir, Wolf here," Yu-Ling Chan's muffled voice came over the headset inside his helmet and he held up a closed fist to stop the rest of the team. There were eight people in total including him in this team and he had personally made sure that all of their records were completely straight and they were loyal to the LF. He didn't want a repeat of what Quinn did weeks ago.

"Go," he replied quietly, checking around the darkened and low gravity hall ways to make sure that no enemy was in sight. He knew that they were walking into an ambush, but he wanted to make sure that when he sprung the trap, it was to his own time and liking. No need getting his team killed before they could destroy Mendel.

Luckily the explosives that they had carried with them weren't really needed and only two C-4s had been used to blow apart a blast door. The place was completely wired and also, to his surprise, filled with a couple of nuclear weaponry from what they had seen coming in from their landing zone.

"Movement coming from eleven-o'clock, west," she was hidden above them as usual. If their first assault on Mendel to deal with Sven Anderson hadn't provided her with adequate cover, this time around, she could not be found. Debris littered the area, piled high and floated everywhere in the low gravity. It was a sniper's paradise.

He signaled for cover and they all pressed themselves against the walls of the halls on either side of where the enemy was coming from. It was a few minutes later that Keiji heard the soft clomping of boots, trying to be as quiet as possible, coming towards them.

He narrowed his eyes as he shouldered his assault rifle…

_Crack!_

Keiji leapt out of his hiding place as soon as Wolf's rifle echoed its sharp report and immediately targeted the leading soldier. A solid burst of bullets into the soldier's navel dropped him to the ground as his blood congealed and started forming little balls of red liquid that floated around. Keiji immediately rolled to the other side of the hallway and ducked into cover as the rest of his team broke from their cover and fired at the other soldiers.

"Grenade!" one of his team members yelled and they all ducked back into their position before the heat and noise of the explosion passed by them.

As soon as the dust and smoke cleared, he cautiously looked out and saw that their ambushers were dead, a few burnt to a blackened crisp by the grenade. The two that he had sent forward as scouts came around the corner holding up their hands to signal that they weren't the enemy before making a series of hand signals.

Keiji recognized what they were saying even though his sign language was a bit rusty and tapped the team's frequency. "There are two entrances to the Control Room, the rest have caved in. Pointer, take three with you and set up another sniping position. Wolf, cover the rest of us."

Seven audible clicks told him that the rest of his team heard his commands and they split up, according to the new data inputted on their data pads. He lead his group towards the secondary entrance where Haruka had come through the first time they had launched their assault on the control room. It was the most likely place to be ambushed and Keiji wanted to make sure that he foiled the ambush before Pointer and his team made it through. He was feeling oddly vengeful, something that he didn't realize until his wife commented to him when he had been suiting up after the last mission briefing.

"Wolf, hide," he whispered into the comm. before a single click came over. It was his code for the best sniper in the LF to make herself scarce. He had a feeling that Quinn may have sent his own snipers and counter-strike force to take down Wolf and their other sniper Caster.

The rest of his team followed him down the hall and just as they turned the last corner before the control room, a hail of bullets greeted them. Keiji grunted as a couple ripped into his flightsuit and impacted the chest area of the bullet proof vest he was wearing under his flightsuit. He quickly ducked into another hallway before peeking out and blindly firing a few rounds. Ducking back into his hiding spot, he gritted his teeth in anger as he knew he had walked into an ambush, similar to what they had set up for those poor souls only a few halls back.

He quickly pulled out a couple of white patches from one of the pockets of his flightsuit and slapped the adhesive on his chest to prevent anymore air from leaking out of his suit.

"Grenade!" one of his men codenamed Wave suddenly called as the pinging metallic sound of a small tube hit the ground a few feet away from them. Keiji immediately scooped up a piece a small chunk of the wall that had been blown apart by the recent shower of bullets and threw it at the grenade. It sent the small cylindrical tube further away from them and suddenly blew up. Cover his head with his hands, he felt the small bits of debris hit him before he brought up his rifle on instinct and fired.

His bullets hit their mark as he took down two of their ambushers who had been trying to sneak up and attack them as the grenade did its work. Not bothering to waste anymore time, he immediately rose from his crouch and slammed the butt of his rifle into the third man, smashing in his faceplate. The man shouted in pain as the glass from his shattered helmet cut deep into his face. His shouts faded into gags as he choked and tried to get air.

Behind him, both Wave and Fox took out the three remaining ambushers with two sprays of bullets and a thrown knife into the neck of the last one.

They didn't even bother to rest as Keiji sprang ahead to the door that would lead them into the main control room. He pointed his rifle at the unopened door as Fox settled himself at the panel and tapped in a few numbers. Wave covered them with a trained eye, watching to see if anyone else came after them.

"Got it," Fox whispered over the comm. before the door hissed opened and Keiji cautiously stepped in.

The eerie lights of working consoles and hum of computers running cast an unusual light in the control room. There was definitely someone here…

"I'm glad you were able to make it here Akuma," a familiar voice made Keiji spin around and point his gun at the silhouette of a man who stood by one of the blinking consoles, his face hidden in the shadows. But even with the face hidden, he knew who the voice belonged to. While he knew that most others had thought him to be captaining the Isis, having worked with Kingfisher for a long time, he had anticipated their meeting…

"I don't have time to play games with you Quinn Misali," Keiji didn't squeeze the trigger. He knew that his former friend had something up his sleeve; otherwise, he wouldn't have exposed himself so readily.

"Neither do I, so I'll cut right to the chase. Stand your men down and you can walk away from here alive," Quinn stepped forward just as the other entrance hissed open and Keiji noticed that Pointer was the only one who walked through, surrounded by three soldiers dressed in black. The other two must have been killed he surmised, noticing that Pointer looked heavily injured and there was more than one white patch on his flightsuit.

"The four of you…against the four of us?" Keiji looked back at Quinn who had no expression his face.

"Oh, my apologies. There were eight of you…now…six probably," he made a gesture to one of the men who suddenly pointed his gun up at the ceiling and fire two rounds. The thump of two bodies was heard through the silent control room and Keiji narrowed his eyes. How did that man figure out where Wolf and Caster were?!

"He is an enhanced human if you want to know," Quinn smiled slightly, "and of course, as enhanced, he is able to hear a single pin drop…so, now it's four on four. Fair and square."

"What do you want," Keiji asked again, keeping a firm grip on the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. He wanted to yell at his former friend, beat him to a pulp for kidnapping his son and obeying stupid orders that shouldn't have been obeyed all those years ago.

"I am offering you and the rest of your men a chance to live. Leave now and let this asteroid fall to Earth," Quinn stared at him.

"It will kill billons of people. Don't you even care about that?!" Keiji half shouted.

Quinn gave him a crooked smile before gesturing to the console, which for the first time, he saw were wired with a lot of C-4s. "My family is dead, killed by the boy you call a son. Oh yes, Keiji Yamato, your _son_, Kira is a very effective killer. He murdered my wife and my daughter."

"Because you forced him to do it! You didn't have to bring him to Patrick!"

"So you're not denying that Kira is a murderer?"

"Kira has nothing to do with this! He wanted to be left alone! I wanted him to be left alone! I never wanted my past to interfere with his future! He should have been-"

"He should have been killed from the very beginning. That abomination to what all Coordinators—no, what all of humanity is should have been destroyed along with this damnable colony and its creations!"

"Dropping it on Earth isn't the right solution! We should blow it up so no one can be harmed by it," Keiji pleaded with his former friend.

"You're wrong," Quinn said in a deadly quiet voice, "Naturals like you and I would have never realized our true potential until a Coordinator gave us the chance."

"Patrick gave you a chance? A chance to do what? Have your family be killed by his actions?!"

"Shut up," Quinn suddenly drew out a pistol and pointed it at him. "Kira killed them."

Keiji shook his head sadly, seeing only a shell of his former friend, "No…you killed them Kingfisher. You could have spirited them away, let Madison and Riley live out their lives in Orb. Instead, you chose to serve your own conscious, your own sense of duty."

"And this coming from a person who went AWOL from OMNI? Ha! You're full of shit Keiji," Quinn clicked a setting on the gun, "you've always been deluded. Why did you stop your mission?! Really! Did you think you could-"

BANG!

Keiji nearly jumped at the report of a sniper rifle's shot as it tore through the side of Quinn's helmet, drilling through his brain and out through the other side. Blood immediately sprayed into the air and Quinn's shocked expression was forever preserved as a hideous mask of death.

However, that didn't stop Keiji from turning and firing shots into the men holding Pointer. Too shocked and slow to react, they fell to the ground dead as Pointer himself sagged slightly, no one there to support him.

"Wave, check the area," he ordered before glancing up at the ceiling. Judging from where the shot came from… "Wolf, report!"

Hissing static answered him.

"Wolf!"

"…Got…him…that b-bastard…" Wolf's voice came faintly over the comm. before he heard her death rattle over the comm. and a sniper rifle dropped from where she had been hiding above the control room amongst the debris. He stared at the rifle, recognizing it as Wolf's favorite one and swallowed the bile that threatened to rise above his throat.

"Clear!" Wave reported back a few seconds afterwards and Keiji walked over to Pointer who was supporting himself against a console. He looked into the man's faceplate and saw that he was sweaty and very pale. A quick assessment of Pointer's wounds told him that the man wasn't going to survive much longer.

Apparently Pointer also knew as he smiled sheepishly and looked up at him. "Sorry Akuma…I know you wanted to set the charges…but…I can stay…m-make sure…they go off…"

"Are you sure, son?" he gripped the man's shoulder, shaking it slightly.

"Yes, sir," Pointer smiled at him before reaching into one of his flightsuit's pouches and drew out a block of C-4. With fumbling fingers, he tried to set it up before Fox took it from his hands and set it up so that it was wired to a remote trigger. One C-4 would set off a chain reaction to destroy Mendel.

Keiji noticed that Fox hesitated to give Pointer the trigger until Pointer swiped it from him, giving them a smiling glare. "Go," Pointer urged in a wheezing breath, "it's too late for me. But it's not too late to save others."

Keiji gave a long look at Pointer…he didn't say anything and instead nodded once before turning around and headed out of the control room, Wave and Fox following him.

They reached the shuttle without anymore incidents and as soon as they blasted off and headed back to the _Babylon_ a series of explosions started to blossom their deadly color inside of Mendel. Keiji stared grimly at the tactical information he was receiving and realized that one of the LF ships was missing…the _Kusanagi_. It only took him a second to realize that the ship wasn't missing from the battle, it had been destroyed.

The tactical information also showed that the LF, OMNI, and ZAFT were winning the battle, but all three groups had suffered seriously losses… He continued his course with a grim look on his face. His mission was done…but he had a suspicious feeling that it wasn't over just yet…

* * *

Athrun swiped and disarmed two more Strike Daggers before he noticed on his monitors that a series of explosions occurred inside of Mendel, culminating into a giant explosion. He threw his hands up to protect his eyes as his screens went white from the last major explosion that consumed all of Mendel. As soon as the explosion died down, its fireball consumed by the lack of oxygen in space, a smile appeared on his face.

They had destroyed Mendel and foiled the mad clone's plans.

"This is Captain Murrue Ramius to Zala's fleet, surrender. Your plan's failed. Surrender now and no more blood will be spilled," Murrue's voice came over a broadband connection.

"This is Lieutenant Renald of the _Isis_ we will never surrender! Long live-"

Communication was suddenly cut off as the secondary explosions ripped through Mendel and a giant piece slammed into the bridge of the _Isis_ who was stationed near Mendel. The ship had activated the Genesis weaponry on Mendel remotely and destroyed the _Kusanagi_ in the midst of the battle after she had dropped Keiji Yamato's team off in the colony.

Athrun watched as more secondary explosions tore apart Mendel. He felt an odd sense of satisfaction and relief, watching the horrid place destroying itself through the explosions and through pieces of it hitting the other debris in the Debris Belt.

Perhaps it was finally over…

* * *

Kira felt another spasm of pain twinge through his whole body. It had been happening more and more frequently, ever since he had gotten up in the hours before battle and gotten ready. He tightened his grip on the controls to the Freedom, watching the battered remnants of Mendel tear itself apart.

Ever since he had felt Griever's passing, he had a nagging feeling that he was short on time. He had hoped that it wasn't true…but right now, his gut sense was telling him otherwise. He kept himself in seed-mode, wary of any of Zala's remnant forces' attacking them while everyone was occupied watching the fireworks.

Suddenly, he noticed something breaking away from Mendel… A zoom on his screen showed that a huge chunk of the colony had not been destroyed in the subsequent explosions and was now careening wildly out of the Debris Belt and towards Earth. Looking over to where the _Archangel_, _Babylon_, and _Eternal_ were, he noticed that the _Archangel_ was heavily damaged, its repaired engine now smoking once more, while many of its weaponry was blown out or depleted.

Listening to the comm. chatter between the three ships, he tightened his grip on the controls, making the fabric of his flightsuit where his fingertips were squeak in slight protest.

He breathed in before exhaling quickly. He knew what he had to do. It was risky, foolhardy, and he knew that he would die in the attempt, but there was no one else with enough firepower to do so…

Kira jammed the thrusters forward and shot towards the falling piece of Mendel.

* * *

Athrun brought the Justice around just in time to see Kira fly towards the still exploding debris that was Mendel.

"Kira!" he called after his best friend before he noticed that the Freedom was avoiding the debris of Mendel and instead focused on something else. It was then that he noticed that a huge piece of the colony had not been destroyed and instead was on a re-entry path with the Earth.

Typing in calculations quickly, he figured that the piece was big enough to at least do a considerable amount of damage and wipe out a part of the world at least the size of the former country known as Brazil.

"Captain Ramius!" he called, uploading the information he had calculated to the _Archangel_ and other ships.

"Can we combine the fire power of all ships to destroy that thing?" Cagalli's face popped up on a small box on his monitors. He noticed that she looked disheveled and had some blood trickling down the side of her face, but otherwise looked all right. What happened on the _Babylon_? Surely it wasn't that damaged during the fight…

"Negative…" Murrue looked dismayed, "the _Archangel_'_s_ too damaged to risk firing the Lohengrins without considerable damage to its structural integrity."

"_Eternal's_ built for running, not for firepower," Bartfield came over, looking grim.

"What about OMNI or ZAFT?" Cagalli asked.

"They're too far away," Miriallia's face popped on, "we've sent them the information, but they've also suffered considerable damage."

Athrun cursed silently before he stared at the still zoomed in footage and his eyes widened in shock as he saw the Freedom approaching the falling piece of colony, already glowing bright red in the early stages of re-entry. He realized that Kira hadn't been going in for a closer look as he had originally thought, but instead was going to try to move the piece away from its atmospheric re-entry.

"No…" he breathed in shock before he jammed his thrusters forward and shot after the Freedom.

"Athrun?!" concerned voices came over but he ignored them and instead patched a frequency through to Kira.

"Kira! What are you doing?!"

* * *

Pain clawed its way out of his head, spreading into his arms, legs, chest, hands, feet…everywhere. He could feel it as he pushed the Freedom towards the remaining chunk of Mendel that had not been destroyed by the explosions. The pain wasn't from his wounds that he had received from his time in Zala's experimental lab, nor from his "training" sessions with Griever, or from stopping Taylor in the _Archangel_'_s_ engine room. This was the pain that Griever had described to him in their chat the day before they headed out to this battle.

He could feel himself dying.

Kira shunted the pain away by focusing his seed-mode on the remnant piece of Mendel. None of the remaining ZAFT or OMNI ships were able to reach it in time from plunging into the atmosphere without getting caught themselves. The _Archangel_ was too damaged to fire her Lohengrins without risking a serious explosion to it and both the _Babylon_ and _Eternal_ didn't have enough firepower to blow the chunk of colony apart. He had been closer to Mendel when the secondary explosions occurred, wiping out Zala's flagship the _Isis_. And so now, he knew what he had to do, save humanity, and save his friends.

"Kira! What are you doing?!" Athrun's voice came over and he glanced back to see the Justice flying towards him on the same path, "we can't do anything about Mendel!"

"Watch me," he replied, the sides of his cockpit's windows starting to glow a bright orange from the edges of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

"Kira! Stop it! You'll die at this rate! Anyone who tries will be fried by the heat of atmospheric re-entry! You don't have the necessary protection on the Freedom!" Athrun's voice was partially garbled by the interference with the heat but the Justice kept following him.

He knew that during the war, when he had tried to stop OMNI from attacking Orb, he had used the Freedom's shield as a cooling effect against the heat from re-entry, but what he was doing now…Athrun was valid in his concerns.

"I don't care!" he shouted back, before pointing his beam rifle at the Justice, "stay away!" He fired a warning shot, which went totally wide, but the Justice moved to the side a bit.

"Kira!" the Justice kept flying towards him.

Kira turned back around and with shaking controls, he finally reached out and grabbed onto a part of the falling colony. Pulling himself and straining against the controls of the Freedom, the vibrations from him and the piece falling into the atmosphere growing by the second, he forced his way towards the "front" end of the plunging piece. The computer started to beep at him that the temperature inside the cockpit was getting dangerously high and also that some of his systems were starting to malfunction due to overheating and melting.

He hit a button to stop the computer from giving him warnings and instead, inched braced himself against the most heated part of the falling colony. Pushing the throttle on the leg jets and the main thrusters to its fullest, he forced the Freedom against the piece of falling colony, willing it to stop falling. He didn't know the capabilities of how much the Freedom would have in pushing the colony away from its current descent, but he hoped it was enough. If the Freedom blew up in the process, perhaps the nuclear reactor's meltdown and subsequent explosion would be enough to destroy the colony.

A suddenly movement from his left made him turn to see through the hazy fiery red outlines of his cockpit window to see the Justice wedging itself next to him, also maximizing its thrusters to help push the colony away.

"Get out of here! You'll die!" he shouted over the comm. to his best friend.

"So will you! I'm not going to let you die here!" Athrun replied back his voice cold. "It's a suicide mission and you know it!"

"Let me finish it! It was my fault to begin with!" he shot back, angry. He was angry at the fact that Athrun had to come and risk his own life. Couldn't his best friend see that he needed to do this? Needed to finish what was started so long ago? He had to finish it since it was his mistake, because he was born, that started this whole thing?!

"Fault?! You've got to be kidding me! You think that by dying here you'll be atoning for what's happened?! It's not your fault!"

"It is my fault! I let this happen! I couldn't stop-" Kira's breath hitched as he squeezed his eyes shut momentarily before opening them again, "couldn't stop them from performing the experiments, making me into what I am now. I couldn't stop Patrick Zala from executing his plan to drop Mendel when I had the chance. I couldn't kill him."

"You don't mean that. You're not a killer Kira. You're yourself!" Athrun replied, the coldness gone, replaced by an emotion he couldn't identify. Was it pity? No…it didn't sound like pity…it was…

"If I am myself you know what has to be done!" he blinked and saw the tendrils surrounding the falling piece of the colony…Freedom's hands that were half melted into the colony from the friction and heat of the atmospheric re-entry…the whole Gundam...the Justice…

It wasn't the angry tendrils he had seen so many times before…these were the same ones that welcomed him to their fold; inviting him to use them, to save the ones that were his friends, to save everyone.

"I'm…sorry," he whispered to Athrun and pushed at the tendril mass that surrounded the Justice.

"Kira what are you-" the Justice started to move away from its position, "no…Kira, don't do this…!"

Kira narrowed his eyes against the strain, feeling the Justice bring up its thrusters to full power in an effort to counter his telekinetic push. It felt like as if he didn't have the power to be able to push like the other times he had been using these powers. He briefly wondered if they were naturally created instead of being from the drugs. Brushing the thought away, he pushed again at the tendrils and suddenly the Justice went flying away from him, up towards space.

Focusing his thoughts, he made sure Athrun wasn't hit with any flying debris and was safely out of the atmospheric re-entry zone before releasing the tendrils that he had been holding onto. He breathed a quick sigh of relief before groaning as he felt a massive wave of pain slam into him.

It hurt everywhere. Almost as if his mind was being ripped out along with his heart and body. Every fiber of his being cried out, the effects of having the tendrils disappear slashing into him. He muffled his cry of pain as he continued to keep his shaking hands and arms pushed forward on the thruster controls. He couldn't give up! Not now, not ever! He would finish it….

There were several static pops before Athrun's voice came over, grainier as he and Mendel continued their descent into the atmosphere, "Kira! Why—doing this?!"

Kira didn't answer as he re-routed power from his beam sabers and other beam weaponry to the thrusters.

"Kira…-nswer me!"

Two more pops and hisses of static and then a voice came over that made him freeze. "Kira…please answer…"

"Lacus," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt tears form in the corner of his eyes. He looked up and through his damaged view screens saw that the _Eternal_, _Babylon_, and _Archangel_ moving towards where Athrun was, most of the Justice's armor melted around him, the phase-shift on the red-maroon colorings flickering in and out. He shook the tears away and opened his eyes again just as Athrun's call came over again.

"—answer me!"

"The cure hasn't been finished yet has it…" he said quietly, "and it will take longer to synthesize it."

"What-"

"I'm dying Athrun," he confessed, "My memory's been fragmented for a while now. I can barely remember things that I've done when we were fighting in the war. I remember the face of a red-haired girl. I know she's important, but I don't know anything else. I know you and I fought, but why…I don't even remember…"

"…No…Kira…"

Kira let loose a bark of bitter laughter, "Griever said that if I keep using the tendrils, I will die…I think he meant, every time I used it, it holds back the pain, but brings it back twice as bad. It's…not natural to have such a power. It's not…" He felt tears falling down his face, "I'm not even a Coordinator anymore, Athrun. I'm something that was never meant to be. And it should die with me…"

"I don't care if you're something else. You're my best friend…" Athrun's voice broke over the comm. and Kira could hear a muffled sob behind his voice, "you're my brother…"

He started slightly at the statement before an unbidden smile came to his face. "You're my brother too Athrun…"

"Why?"

"Because with Zala's death, Mendel's destruction, my death…no one should ever have to create someone like the Ultimate Coordinator ever again. I know that you'll see to that… No one should have to suffer like me," he replied quietly.

"What about Cagalli or Lacus, your mother and father?" Athrun asked softly, his voice barely audible over the static and pops of the comm. system.

"My parents…they were the best parents. They don't have to suffer anymore…Mom can put her past behind her…Dad can finally stop that mission that has been plaguing him ever since his departure from Black Ops…" he smiled as he imagined his parents in his mind. He knew that his existence, while they would deny it vehemently, was a burden on them. He remembered running from the people that were looking for him when he was just a baby…

"Cagalli…" he knew that both Cagalli and Lacus were overhearing his conversation between him and Athrun. He didn't know if everyone else in the LF ships was listening, but he didn't care anymore. It was time to put the ghosts that had been haunting his life ever since he was born to rest.

"Take care of her, all right Athrun? I know she will be sad…I know she will blame me afterwards, but she is strong. She's a fighter…she will survive this."

Suddenly Kira had to grab onto the controls and stop himself from being rattled around so much as he felt something give way on the Freedom. A quick glance through whatever monitors he had left showed that he had lost a leg and shunted the power that had been going through his right leg thruster into the left one.

Gritting his teeth, he opened his helmet's visor and shook out the sweat that had beading on his forehead. It was at least feeling like a very hot sauna, if not more, in the cockpit. All of the sudden another there was a crackle before he involuntarily ducked as a few panels surrounding him exploded. He winced in pain as shards of broken machinery embedded into his right arm and side.

He knew he was running out of time.

"Lacus…" he whispered, "thank you…and…I will always love you."

"Kira, stop it! You can still-"

Kira reached deep into his own mind and touched the power that he knew existed there. He would save his friends. He would give them a future…

Giving one last look at the Justice, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Goodbye…Athrun…"

Turning back to focus on his last task; with all of his might, mind, and powers, he wrapped the tendrils into a tight mesh against the red-hot surface of the burning piece of Mendel. The Freedom was almost an unrecognizable pile of metal against the melted metal, but its thrusters were still working. Inside of the Freedom, the reactor core was turning a bright red…almost to its meltdown point.

Giving a war cry, Kira _pushed_ against Mendel with all that he had.

_MOVE!_

* * *

Athrun watched with horror and growing surprise as he saw Mendel slowly, but surely, _move_ from its deadly plunge down to the Earth. He could see from his vantage point, the faint blue of the Freedom's thrusters pushing against the chunk of the colony. He knew for a fact that both the Freedom and Justice, if combined, would probably be able to move the colony from its drop and the strain would destroy both mobile suits, so how was Kira able to move the colony by himself?

With a start, he realized Kira had used his powers to help move the thing, at what he knew was the cost of his own life. "No…Kira…" he whispered as he saw the reddish hue that indicated the re-entry process start to dissipate.

Just as the reddish hue was about to disappear, there was a sudden explosion of white light before a blooming fireball consumed the spot where the Freedom had been stationed.

Athrun's breath hitched in his throat and he leaned forward against his restraints. "No…KIRA!!!!!!"

He immediately pushed forward on the Justice's heavily damaged thrusters, flying towards the remnant of Mendel that was still moving away from the Earth. He suddenly stopped and raised his arm to protect his eyes from the glare of secondary explosions that started to wrack across the surface of the remnant piece of Mendel, caused by the explosion of the Freedom.

All of it culminated in a huge spectacular fireball that scattered debris everywhere. When the glare died down, Athrun looked across his damaged screens to see that there was small pockets of debris everywhere…no sign of the Freedom anywhere.

"No…" he whispered brokenly as he moved forward. Movements on either side of him made him look around to see the Duel, Buster, and Strike Rouge following him.

"We'll help," Yzak's face appeared in the upper corner of his screen.

"We'll find him," Dearka's face popped up below Yzak's.

"We'll never give up," Cagalli's face appeared and Athrun saw that Lacus was with her in the cockpit of the Strike Rouge.

Together, the four Gundams moved into the debris that used to be part of Mendel.

* * *

It was at least a half hour later that Athrun spotted something unusual looking in the debris. He opened the cockpit hatch to the Justice and stepped out, making sure to take a flyer-pack with him. Attaching a tether to the hook on the Justice, he flew out towards the object that had caught his eye.

He moved away what looked like two white panels that most definitely belonged to the Freedom that was wedging the object together. He made a small noise of surprise as he held the object in his hand.

_Tori…_

The mechanical bird was battered and broken, half of its wires sticking out. Burn marks scorched its green-yellow paint and it was completely stiff in his hand. The pain that had been eating away in Athrun's heart for so long finally broke through its dam and he cried.

_Live…for me…_

Athrun didn't notice any of the others coming towards him in their own flyer-packs nor that the _Archangel_, _Eternal_, and _Babylon_ had stopped at their respectful distances a bit away from them. All he did was cry for the loss of his dearest and best friend…his brother.

_Live…and Hope…_

_**END**_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Well, it's finally ended; the last chapter of this massive alternate universe to my universe. This story started out as just a "what if Quinn was really working for someone else?" in regards to Keiji and Quinn's past history. Then it ended up in a massive giant story like this. I sincerely hoped you all enjoyed reading _Arbiter Forces_ and I hope you will all continue to read _Entropy Rising's_ true sequel, _Destiny Falling_. I've enjoyed reading comments, questions, and whatnot from you, the reviewers and I am very glad to find that a few people were angry at me (though I suspect you'll be angry right now…) and others just totally enthralled at the rollercoaster I've put you through.

I guess the main question I really should answer in this author's note is why I killed Kira. (And yes he is quite dead by the end of this story.) You can find it on wiki if you search "Kira Yamato" or on seedgenesis' site (google seedgenesis): but it's stated that in the early drafts up till a certain point, Mitsuo Fukuda wanted in the original plotline of _Gundam SEED_ for Kira to die fighting Rau Le Creuset and Athrun to lose an arm (and other things happening) that didn't occur in the final drafts and cut of the series. I liked the idea that Kira would end up dying (somehow my love for Kira is a bit warped as it is with all of my favorite characters) and was a bit disappointed that the Ultimate Coordinator didn't die at the end of the series.

I played around with whether or not Kira should have amnesia, live, or die for a bit while writing this story and ultimately decided by the time I had Kira return from his captivity that he would eventually die.

Of course…he is quiet alive in _Destiny Falling_.

Some of the plot elements many reviewers wanted that didn't appear in this story will most definitely appear in _Destiny Falling_. I'll throw you guys another bone: Kira vs. Athrun. Wait for it! Look for it! Enjoy it!

Happy reading folks and I will see you soon.

-Shadow Chaser


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